Silence is Golden
by Zenelly
Summary: When Demyx goes to college, he wants to learn and get his degree. He doesn't want to have a roommate who refuses to speak, a drifter who decides to live in his room, or fall in love. Too bad what Demyx wants is not what Demyx gets. Semi-Mute!Zexion Zemyx.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it, none of the Organization members would have died. They are way too awesome, fate of the world be damned.

**Author's Note:** So this is my first Zemyx fic! I'm more of a reader than I am a writer, but I started this at my friend's house one day and have kept coming back to it. It'll take me a bit to get through it, but as long as I have ideas, it'll keep going. And WARNING: This will not be a "oh look, we love each other, let's tumble into bed" sort of story. I have no objection to those stories, but I have severe problems when I try to write them. It's going to take at least a little bit to get these two into bed together, mostly due to their own stubbornness. Man, I love them so much.

**Dedications: **To **Evil-Pixie-Dus**t. You are my beta. You rock hardcore. This is all your fault, and don't you deny it. And to **Dualism**. You're the one who started it all, for me. From _Surgeon General's Warning_ to _Shout,_ I fell in love with this pairing. Thank you. And finally, to **Sarehptar**. Everyone needs to go read _The Violet Room_. Everyone. It's so beautiful. Sarehptar, you inspired me to keep going, even if you don't know me.

So here it is! The first of hopefully many!

* * *

Reading was his only joy.

Everything was laid out so neatly in books. The story progressed smoothly, and he had the option of simply not picking the book back up if he so chose. None of the characters had anything to say about him and how he was, which meant no judgment for once. He understood the inner workings of their minds. And all that told him was that the people around him were particularly stupid and shallow.

The only thing he liked about himself was his hair.

It fell around his face in a curtain-like fashion, cutting him off from the world. He didn't have to look at it, and it didn't have to look at him. Even if it did, he never had to know that it was looking and that gave him a strange sense of comfort. Despite his hair's unusual shade, he still felt unnoticed, almost invisible. No one knew him as anything other than the kid with lilac hair who read too much.

He had found out when he was younger that he could predict with a frightening degree of accuracy the reactions of different people in different situations. By listening to a conversation between people, he could gauge who was being most deeply affected and what their next probable move would be. For a while, he even tried to advise other people on what course of action to take, but that never worked. All of the people he tried to aid thought he was lying, or trying to manipulate them.

Sometimes he was, but that was never any business of theirs.

Afterwards, all social interaction became simply boring, unless he was watching it happen without being involved. Involving himself required talking to people, and talking to people would make them remember him.

He never wanted to be remembered.

He wanted to be alone with his books and his silence, where he could uncover his face and study intently without being thought of as strange. He wanted to sit in darkness and just think. He wanted to not be bothered by others who formed his opinions themselves without letting him speak. He wanted to never speak again.

Zexion just wanted to be left behind and forgotten.

* * *

He loved his music.

Everyone understood music, or at least that's how he saw it. No one really _got_ words. Tons of people thought they did, but they didn't, truly. Music moved through people. Maybe it would resonate in different ways through different people, but it still managed to be more pure than simple conversation. Everyone was moved by some sort of music.

They said his eyes were his best feature, but he liked his own smile.

There were so many different ways you could smile, and it tickled him to try and spot the differences in others' smiles. Maybe if he could notice all the ways someone could smile, then someday, someone would be able to see the loneliness behind his, the wistfulness. The brain, even, though that was a bit too much to hope for.

Everyone misjudged him. They thought that since he talked too much, he couldn't listen. Which really wasn't true. He could listen. There just didn't seem to be anyone worthwhile to listen to. Everyone talked too much anyway, so they needed to learn how to be quiet. If him talking would teach them that, then so be it. But if he tried to explain that, it wouldn't go over well. They would think he was trying to be all superior, when he was really just trying to get them to listen to someone for once.

And, hey, if he was going to be superior, that was his problem, wasn't it?

People thought he was interesting, since he had so much to say, but all of them came and went, never lingering too long. It was like watching the first snowfall. They came down and down, but eventually they all disappeared, covered up by those who followed.

It made him want to be unique, to never melt and be replaced.

He wanted to have someone see beyond his exuberance and finally see the true him. He wanted for someone, anyone, to have him as a close friend, not just an overly-chatty, friendly, unimportant _nobody_. He wanted to play music that was made for only that one person. He wanted to have to listen.

Demyx just wanted to be special to someone.

* * *

When he was younger, he never understood why people didn't like him.

It was logical in a way, as he was never the most sociable of people, but something about him made others ignore his very presence. They would talk about things as though he were not there. If he tried to insert himself into the conversation, the others would only look at him briefly and move on, either physically or conversationally.

It wasn't long before he stopped trying altogether. There didn't seem to be a point if no one acknowledged his words. Effort wasted was never regained, in his opinion. His mother and father continued to try and speak to him, and for the most part he responded. They were, after all, his parents. They were supposed to be respected, and respect meant talking to them when they asked him to.

One day, though, he decided to not speak. Part of him wanted to prove that someone would care, that someone, anyone, would notice.

No one did.

No one would ever notice if they did not want to.

Who would want to notice him?

That time, he went only two days without talking before his parents got really worried and practically begged him to speak to them again. He was reassured that someone did care. It made him feel happy and almost secure in his place in life.

Then the accident happened.

It had been snowing, and the road was unusually slick that evening on the drive home from dinner. His father negotiated around a turn too quickly for the vehicle; the wheels spun. There was no time to recover, only lights flashing, distant screams, and the sickening crunch of metal into human flesh and bones.

He regained consciousness in a white room. Alone.

The next time he spoke was three months later. No one noticed.

And Zexion found he liked it that way.

* * *

Demyx found it hard to stay away from new people.

Every time his mother told him to stay away from strangers, he would always nod seriously – especially as a small child. But the second he saw someone new, he had to know their story. He would listen to people he didn't know and would never see again.

And he told them things he would never tell someone he actually knew.

He told a one-eyed gunslinger named Xigbar how he planned on becoming a musician or composer eventually. Xigbar revealed his idea to open up his own shooting gallery, but run a bodyguard and spy business on the side. Demyx had laughed, and told him he wished him the best of luck. Xigbar told him to start composing a jingle for his store.

Demyx did, and it sat, completed, on his music stand at home.

Another man, by the name of Xaldin with dark, black dreadlocks, came through town later. He said he wanted to be a bodyguard. Demyx sent him in the same direction Xigbar went, and told him that he wasn't sure anyone believed that he could listen. Since he was going to Xigbar eventually, he gave the dreadlocked man the jingle he wrote. Xaldin gave him a journal, since it might help him work out some things.

Writing in the journal helped sometimes, but he still couldn't listen to a book.

A man with an "X"-shaped scar between his eyes and blue hair informed him that he wanted to find someone to serve without question. Demyx told Saix that sometimes he wished he could find someone to play music for. One eyebrow raised, Saix asked what he had against the people he already knew. It didn't matter who was there to listen, Saix said, only who he made the music for. And they didn't have to be there to have the music made.

Morning found Demyx asleep, curled around his sitar, with a piece entitled "To the One" on his desk.

It was to a fiery haired, anorexic looking young man that he confided that he thought he might be gay. Axel had laughed and ruffled his hair, only asking him why it had taken him so long to find that out when he himself had known in only a couple of minutes, before leaning in to steal his first kiss. Demyx had never been in love with anyone that much before.

He never learned why Axel had been there.

* * *

Zexion relished the challenge of new things.

New things did not include new social situations.

So when he was told that the college of his choice had accepted him, he was happy and disgruntled at the same time. He would be receiving a first-rate education, but he would have to interact with people who were not already accustomed to his habits. Thinking of the weeks he would have to spend training them, Zexion almost wished he had picked a college that was closer.

Almost.

He prepared himself for his move with a minimal amount of fuss. All of his books were going with him, a set of noise-cancelling headphones, and a single picture of him and his parents. School supplies he could purchase once he was there. His aunt and uncle, who were 'kindly' taking care of him, were more than happy to arrange for his departure. It was probably one of the first things they had done for him that he was actually grateful for.

Everything was planned out. His room would be set up just the way he liked it, books on their shelves and desk kept immaculate. The bed would be placed close to the window, and his clothes would be organized and neat. He had remembered everything. Except for one, tiny, nigh on miniscule detail.

There were these pesky little things known as roommates.

* * *

Demyx simply did not understand why his roommate hated him.

He did his best to be a good roommate. He really did. All of his stuff was on his side of the room, he tried not to play his music too loudly, and he went to sleep early so he wouldn't bother his roommate, everything he could think of. He even cleaned. He, Demyx, cleaned.

But it seemed that Zexion just had something against life.

No matter what Demyx did, it never worked. It was almost if the pale man hated him just for being there in the same room as him, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Besides, it's not like Demyx even knew what was bothering his roommate anyway. Zexion wouldn't talk to him at all.

It was a bad sign when you only learned your roommate's name from the plaque on the door.

Zexion never said anything to anybody, though, so Demyx hoped that it wasn't just him. Unfortunately, Demyx sighed, it seemed like he would only make things worse. Because when Demyx was faced with silence, he filled it up with noise. He talked too much when he got nervous. And silence _definitely_ made Demyx nervous.

The first time his mouth got away with him, Zexion had slowly shifted in his chair to stare quietly at him for a second, his face completely blank before he turned back to his homework. Demyx had gotten the hint and gulped, biting his lip in order to stop himself from talking.

Every time after that, however, it got harder and harder for Demyx to stop talking, since the silences became progressively more awkward. Eventually Zexion simply gave up on trying to shut him up, and just put on his headphones. Demyx nicknamed them the coma-phones(1), because once he put them on, it would take nothing short of a nuclear explosion to get his attention.

Once he realized that Zexion couldn't hear him, Demyx actually found it easier to talk to him. It didn't matter what he said, the dark-eyed man wouldn't hear him. He found his nervousness fading, and he stopped chattering at him. With the nervousness gone, the musician talked quietly about things that he never said, things that only made sense in his head.

He told Zexion how he had tried one time to catch sunlight in a jar, just so he could bring it home to write a song about. About how a sunset made him think of classical music, but sunrises called to mind something with a stronger backbeat. He complained about his classes, about how his mother didn't seem to understand why he wanted to be a musician when there was "so much more" for him.

He told Zexion jokes that the other never heard.

Demyx didn't mind the fact that the lilac-haired man didn't want to hear him.

After all, he was used to it.

* * *

Zexion questioned when it was that Demyx started to deliberately do things to make life easier for him.

He had come back to the dorm room one morning after getting back from his classes to find that his bed had been made, his desk was set up just the way he liked it, a cup of hot tea was waiting for him, and his headphones were plugged in, ready to go. A note had rested on the center of the desk.

"_Have a good day. Here's your favorite tea. – Demyx"_

Wondering when in the world his roommate had found the time to notice what his favorite kind of tea was, he had sat down at his desk, curiously picking up the mug. He cautiously took a sip, and found it was made the way he liked it, black tea, steeped so long it was ridiculously bitter. It had seemed strange at the time.

Now it was almost normal. Zexion would find his bed made every morning, and a cup of tea waiting for him, whether Demyx had classes or not. Never once did Demyx complain about doing the tasks he assigned himself. He wanted to ask how much of a bother it was for the blonde to keep doing that, but he couldn't get the words out. The tendency to never speak was too deeply ingrained in him to ask why his roommate did these things.

It confused him.

He had never _wanted_ to talk to someone before. He normally didn't have to. Before, he could effortlessly figure out their reasons for doing things and how much trouble it was for them, though the latter usually didn't bother him. Everything they did followed a pattern of sorts. All of their actions made sense.

Nothing Demyx did made sense.

According to his logical brain, his blonde roommate should practically hate him, and want nothing to do with him whatsoever. He should have wanted to change roommates at the first possible opportunity. For some inexplicable reason, Demyx kept trying. Zexion would be the first to admit that he hadn't been the nicest person to the musician at first. Truth be told, he had been downright spiteful. But somehow Demyx completely let that slide by and instead just tried to make his roommate's life easier. The pale man hardly had to do anything anymore, and it made him uncomfortable.

He and Demyx were on the same page. It was a foreign feeling, one he wasn't entirely certain he liked. Someone knowing him like that was…unpleasant. No one was supposed to notice that he was there. He was the one controlling things in the shadows. No one was allowed to know him. Not one of his tools was allowed to move beyond his grasp.

Somehow, Demyx understood what he wanted. He knew.

Now Zexion just had to figure out _how_ he knew.

* * *

His casual observation would lead to some unexpected conclusions. Demyx had known that. He had expected to find out what Zexion was thinking, what he liked, what he did when he was stressed or bothered, stuff like that.

Never once did he think that maybe he would start noticing other things. Like how Zexion's eyes were a dark, Prussian blue(2) that shivered(3) sunset purple and ice blue when he was frustrated and glittered when he was secretly amused. Or how his hair looked so soft that it became a battle of the impulses to not touch it. Or how his skin looked nearly translucent and made him seem like he wasn't of this world. Zexion's unique coloring made him beautiful, though Demyx would hesitate at calling him that because he knew it would irritate the other.

He did notice the things he wanted too, but they were accompanied by a painful tightening in his chest that was half joy and half ache. It didn't matter how much he knew, he wanted so much more. He wanted to know how Zexion's voice sounded, how warm his skin was, all the little things and big things wrapped up in an impossible to unwrap container called Zexion.

If he had his way, Zexion would never find out that Demyx had started loving him.

* * *

Chap. 1 Fin!

-(1) – The coma-phones comment is actually courtesy of my roommates. That's their comment about me and my earbuds. I can see Zexion having a pair of headphones where he can shut out the rest of the world.

-(2) – I actually stopped here and had to go look up a good synonym for the color I was looking for. Seriously. I went to Google and typed in 'Blue color synonyms'. And then looked at a swatch of color associated with each of them. It had to be the _right_ color. I'm sure you all understand!

-(3) – And yes, colors can totally shiver. You know what I'm going after here.

Alright, well, this is actually just the first "chapter" of this fic. After this, there will be a style change. This is kind of the setup chapter, told from an entirely uninvolved third person in retrospective. The next one or ones will be the narrative style, where you actually see the people talking, not just hear about it.

Beta'd by the ever wonderful **Evil-Pixie-Dust**

**Next Chapter**: The secret about Zexion's headphones, someone old makes a new appearance, and Demyx says things that he never thought he'd say aloud.


	2. Dream of Rain

**Disclaimer: **I'm getting Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, I already own KH2, and RE: Chain of Memories. But other than that, I don't have the rights to do anything more than fangirlishly squeal whenever Axel saunters on screen and hits on Roxas. Tell you anything?

**Author's Notes: **And this is the second chapter! I've honestly never managed to grind one of these out so quickly. It really surprised me, and I honestly credit it to my four wonderful reviewers,** Aindel S. Duida,** **Argentate, Finale Di Amore, **and **NedenT**. That you all so much! There was a question in my reviews from **Finale Di Amore**about what type of tea Zexion's drinking. To answer that, for anyone else who might be wondering, it's a type of black tea called Lapsang Souchong. To me, it tastes like how wood smoke smells. It's really good, but bitterer than most other teas that I've tried.

**Dedications:**To **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. Keep going strong, kiddo. Keep telling me when I accidently have someone sit down twice. I never notice. To **Aindel S. Druida.** Thanks for being the first reviewer! You make me happy on the inside! To **ShadowAili**. Even if you've left , you still rock hardcore. Please don't stop enjoying yourself. To **Dualism**. Still my inspiration. And finally, to **Sarehptar**. I will continue putting you here until….no I'm never going to stop dedicating this to Dualism and you. Every single chapter will be yours, whether you want it or not.

And on with the story!

* * *

Demyx looked anxiously through the students walking around him. He shifted from foot to foot and tapped his toes to try to keep from going crazy from the strain of waiting. Finally, just as he was about to give up, he spotted a familiar head of slate colored hair.

A smile lit his face from ear to ear and Demyx stretched on his tippy-toes (1), waving madly to get his roommate's attention.

"ZEXY!"

By that time, Zexion had drawn close enough that the blond could see the slight tightening around his eyes and pressing together of his lips that meant he was irritated by the use of his nickname again. Demyx grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry Zexy. I forgot."

Cobalt eyes flickered to his, exasperation clear in their depths, but it quickly melted as a breeze slid across their bodies. Demyx watched as Zexion's expression shifted, the eyelids fluttering half-closed while the corners of his lips quirked in what could have been a smile, if it hadn't been hidden so quickly. The wind ruffled the hair covering half of the other's pale face, lifting it mischievously, and Zexion almost quivered in what the musician had once realized was delight.

Yeah, Demyx had laughed when he grasped how much Zexion liked to feel the wind in his hair on cold days. If his roommate spoke, he would have denied his obviously enjoyment until he couldn't talk anymore.

Or so Demyx liked to think.

He fell into step next to the quiet man. "So, how was your class?"

Zexion's eyes rolled slightly and Demyx laughed.

"That good, huh? You really should've tried to test out of it. Then you wouldn't have had to put up with this."

A slight shrug.

"Well, yeah, it's a good review, but you seem so bored by it! I can't think that any review is _that_ important. Really, Zexy."

A slender shoulder was quirked in a half-shrug, eyebrows rising in a considering and condescending manner.

"I'm sure you could teach that class, too." Demyx sighed, a smile crossing his lips at Zexion's mild arrogance. It wasn't like he wasn't right -he was, after all- but he was always so unabashedly sure of it.

Then he noticed an expression on Zexion's face that he had seen frequently in the past couple of weeks, though he still didn't know what it was. It was as if the other's eyes had sharpened into seeking points as the rest of his face became intent. The expression was one of the few only directed at certain people, and Demyx had become increasingly convinced that The Expression (capitals said while speaking, too) was aimed most often at him.

Which really just made him nervous.

He and Zexion had finally fallen into an easy pattern after Demyx tacitly agreed to keep himself out from under the other's feet. It was only after that that The Expression had been turned on him. Sometimes Demyx wondered if it hadn't been created solely for him, but that was simply ridiculous.

It…couldn't be that, right?

_No, no, _Demyx mentally shook himself, _don't start getting ideas. Ideas are bad. _At least in this case they were.

Cautiously, he snuck a glance at Zexion, who had begun to examine the passing students pointedly. Zexion never noticed, but his lips would move slightly as he thought sometimes, as if they were partially-forming silent words. Demyx studied him carefully, not noticing he had been caught until he was pulled into a deep, cobalt, soul-seeing stare.

He squeaked and flung his gaze in the other direction. Silently berating himself, Demyx looked for a distraction. He prayed to any god who would listen. _Any distraction_, he pleaded, _I'm serious, anything._

Anything was what he got.

Though, he wasn't sure he expected the heathen gods to reach so far out for a miracle.

With a drawl of _"Well, look what we have here"_, Demyx was suddenly yanked into a gangly, bony hug. His nose filled with the scent of hot metal and matches, and his blue eyes widened. Spitting a length of Crayola red hair out of his mouth –which only confirmed his suspicions-, he laughed and hugged the thin stranger back.

A purr sounded next to his ear. "Miss me?"

Demyx laughed again and pulled back slightly, meeting the almost-fevered green eyes of one person he thought he'd never see again.

"Hey, Axel! What'cha been up to?"

* * *

Zexion fumed.

No, that was a lie. Zexion never fumed. Nor did he sulk, because sulking was for petty children, and Zexion was certainly not one of those. He...brooded in a sullen, regal, and very angry fashion. Fumed implied that he cared. Which he didn't.

Only, he kind of did.

He blamed Demyx. Whether it was actually the musician's fault or not wasn't the point at this moment. Some petty corner of Zexion wanted to point the finger at someone. So he pointed it at Demyx. Silently and frequently.

This time it _was_ the blonde's fault though, so he didn't feel the shadow of guilt that usually passed over him.

Somewhere in the past couple of months, Zexion had become used to the fact that Demyx would find him after their classes and walk with him back to their room, chattering inanely about everything and nothing. Most times, the blond would ask him how his classes were, even though he never spoke. Sometimes, they would just walk in silence. Others, Demyx would hum parts of the songs he was playing for his classes.

He had begun to even –_slightly _, very slightly- enjoy the talks.

Of course, then everything had to change, as everything was wont to do. Damn fickle everything.

His _wonderful_ roommate had met an old friend of his while they had been walking back to their room. So of course the friend was asked to come in. Zexion didn't mind that. Said friend then proceeded to talk constantly to Demyx for two hours. Zexion didn't even mind that. After all, that's what the headphones were for. Demyx then asked the friend to stay the night.

Zexion minded _that_.

It was _his_ space. This was _his_ room. Demyx was allowed, because it was his room too, but this stranger? This…deviant? Zexion had subconsciously shuddered at the man's appearance. Tall, thin to the point of unhealthiness, looking like he had just rolled in a pile of three people's clothes and decided to wear whatever stuck to his skin, this Axel was simply _not_ one he wanted in his room at night. Or ever. He had looked unblinkingly at Demyx, trying to convey this, but for some reason, it wasn't communicated.

Wondering idly what had happened to Demyx's innate Zexion-to-English translator, Zexion now sat at his desk, back facing the two friends. His headphones were on, the noise-canceller doing its job to the peak of its ability. The two behind him had started a movie, which distracted him occasionally because the lights flickered at the edge of his vision, making him turn his head to see what was going on. He typed steadily at his computer despite these repeated interruptions. Fingers clacked evenly on as his thoughts seethed.

There were times, like today, where he wished he would speak. It would have been simple. He would have just said "Demyx, I don't want Axel staying the night here. Why don't we just put him up in a hotel room for the night and you can visit him tomorrow?" And Demyx probably would have frowned, carried on, asked him why. After a bit more persuasion, though, he would have finally agreed. And Axel, the poster-child for delinquents everywhere, wouldn't be in his room.

Zexion knew he could be very persuasive.

Instead, he had been forced to stare silently at the musician's face, trying to convey a single desire through an easily misinterpreted look. Demyx had never once glanced at him.

Which also bothered him, but he didn't want to delve into that mystery yet. It would take more evidence than just one occurrence to solve anything, though the slate-haired man would do most anything to not have another incident like this.

Zexion sighed quietly, typing even now, though he had long since lost track of what the point he was writing about was. There was only so much strange mind-reading could do. Though he still could not figure out how Demyx of all people, uncomplicated, transparent (2) Demyx, could understand him so well. Maybe it only worked on the smaller things though.

He hoped so, because he was _really_ craving a cup of tea right now.

A hand gently touched the desk in the corner of his vision – Demyx's typical way of getting his attention- and Zexion turned towards it slightly. Following the hand was a cup of the smoky brew he preferred. He took it gratefully.

It made him think that there might be something to that psychic theory after all.

* * *

Demyx slid back from passing Zexion his tea, feeling Axel's eyes on him the whole while. They had been fine when they had first met, but as the day went on, the blond became aware of a startling fact.

He wasn't in love with Axel anymore.

His first thought was _'Oh yes, now I don't have to worry about conflicted feelings over Zexion!_' His second, however, ruined that. _'Wait, what if Axel still likes me?'_

The movie was great, but he was a snuggler by nature. Halfway through the movie, Demyx found himself unconsciously pressed against Axel's warm side, one bony arm looped casually around his shoulders.

And now he had to convince someone that might like him that he didn't like them anymore. Demyx mentally whined. Could there be anything more awkward? He shifted uncomfortably and whirled around to face the redhead.

"Demyx, I-" Axel began, but Demyx cut him off with a short nervous laugh.

"Great movie, huh? I love it a lot," he rambled, scrambling with the case for the movie.

There was an amused sigh from the couch and Axel tried to speak again. "No, Dem, really, we need to-"

He squeaked and flung his hands over his ears, eyes already closing, irrationally trying to block Axel out (3). "I don't wanna hear it!"

Closing his eyes was a bad idea, he found out. It meant he never saw Axel coming.

Hands pried his ear protection away, and he was pulled gently to rest against Axel's warm body. Demyx's blue eyes opened wide and he stared directly into entertained green pools, gaping like a fish. Once again, the redhead opened his mouth to speak, and for the third time Demyx blurted out something.

Though he didn't really know what he was going to say. And that never went well.

"Axel, I don't think I love you anymore!"

One carmine eyebrow arched, and Axel blinked.

"You…don't like me anymore?"

Demyx flushed, but had to keep going now that it was said. "No, I don't. I mean, it was nice at the time, but I just…. I mean, I still like you as a friend, but anything more?"

Another blink. "You don't…like me anymore?" He sounded like he was trying to get it right.

Why was he making this harder on him? "No, I don't! I'M SO SORRY!" Demyx wailed.

Suddenly, there was a lack of arms and closeness, and Axel flopped back down on the couch with a loud breath. "Oh thank God."

"I'm so sor- Wait, what?"

Thin fingers raked through red hair, and Axel grinned. "I was worried about how to tell you I didn't like you like that anymore, too."

Demyx gaped. "You what?"

Axel waved a hand idly (4). "Love ya as a friend, kid, but as a boyfriend or more? Nah. You're not my type." He almost had the decency to try and look embarrassed. It came off more as proud.

Stunned, Demyx sat down next to him. "So, wait, we're giving up on any previous attraction?"

There was a brief silence. "Yeah, seems so."

He could almost cry in relief. "Oh thank God, Jesus, Allah, and Buddha."

A grin blossomed on the face across from him. "I know, right? Now we can hang out without worrying about any underlying sexual tension!" Axel pulled him in for what Demyx originally thought was going to be a hug. It turned into a noogie session, with the blond wildly struggling to free himself, laughing all the while.

It took a while, but eventually they fell against each other, panting happily and letting out half-laughs every time they managed to breathe in enough oxygen. Another silence fell, this one more comfortable. Demyx winced when a bony finger jabbed him in the side.

"So, what's the story with lover-boy over there?" Axel inclined his head towards Zexion.

Flushing, Demyx stuttered, "H-hey, don't call him that. His name is Zexion. He's my roommate."

Axel rolled his eyes and poked him again. "I can see that. You like him, don't you?"

"Well, yes, I like him." He gazed almost longingly at the slate-haired man's back, wanting to stroke his hair so badly (5). "I mean, I'd have to in order to live with him, wouldn't I?"

He was nudged hard for that. "You know what I mean, Dem. The attraction isn't between you and I, it's between you and him."

Demyx thought his head was going to explode from all the blood rushing to it. Closing his eyes, he nodded a little, more embarrassed then he ever thought he could be. He thought he was hiding it well. After all, Zexion certainly hadn't noticed.

Or had he?

The thought made him bolt upright in fear. Or at least, he would've been upright if he hadn't run his forehead into Axel's jaw. Even through the pain, Demyx knew one thing.

Zexion must never know.

Axel's hand stopped him from jumping up from the couch. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there, kid." He was slowly turned to meet the emerald gaze of his friend. "Don't freak out on me. You like him like you used to like me, right?"

Demyx nodded, one hand rubbing his aching skull and miserable.

"Does he know?"

He started to shake his head, but stopped. "I…I don't know anymore... I mean, you figured it out…."

Axel let out a bark of laughter and began to tick things off of his fingers. "Let's see, you were watching him instead of the movie, you had gone out to get him from class, you blush every time he looks at you, you're happy that I don't like you…. Yeah, I think you like him. But he seems kind of socially retarded, so I doubt he knows."

Demyx flared, "Zexion's not retarded! He's brilliant!"

"No offense, but he's not exactly the most social of people. He never even said 'Hi' to me."

"He…doesn't really talk to anyone."

Axel looked curiously at the typing man. "Really? Not at all?"

His bangs flew around his face as he shook his head. "I've never heard him speak."

"Huh." Something in Axel's eyes turned calculating and he studied Zexion's back intently. "Do you talk to him?"

Demyx blinked. "Well, yeah, but he's normally wearing those headphones, so he doesn't hear it." There was a sad smile in his voice, "I talk to him about things I never would have if he wasn't wearing those, so it's not a bad thing. It makes me feel a little better."

"So, if he was listening to you…"

"…I would be so embarrassed! I mean, I tell him things that don't make sense outside of my head! I probably would never speak to him again!" Demyx laughed.

Axel made a considering sound (6), eyes still fixed on their target. "Is that so…"

Something in the vibrant redhead's expression made Demyx pause. What in the world was he thinking? There was part of him that was afraid to find out. "Axel, I'm going to get more tea for Zexion, kay? Don't bother him while I'm gone."

There was a vaguely affirmative noise from the lounging man and Demyx stood and left the room.

* * *

Axel was kind enough to wait until the door clicked shut before standing. He prowled over to stand behind Demyx's roommate; this prissy Zexion. A smile graced his lips before he leaned a little closer.

"So, Demyx likes you, huh?" The sound of Zexion typing kept going steadily. "Impressive, since you never talk to him. He even takes care of you without you asking. How _nice_ of him. And you, Zexion, you just sit there and do nothing."

No break in the typing.

Axel smirked. This one was going to be harder to crack. How fun.

"You know, Dem is the sort of person who needs equal communication. More than anything, he probably just wants to hear your voice. Even if all you tell him is to shut up." He switched sides, his lips hovering near one headphone-covered ear, his voice a purr. "I know him, Zexion. He'll love you more easily than breathing. He already does."

Still the typing remained even. Zexion's eyes didn't even leave the screen.

Tracing a finger lightly over the back of the chair, Axel murmured, just loud enough, "He'll do anything to make sure you never know. You would have to make the first move." He smiled again.

"Only, you already have."

There was the smallest of stutters in the steady sound of typing. Axel bared his teeth in what could have been called a smile. He had him now.

"You see, there was something I noticed while Demyx and I were talking. One, simple thing that he tends to overlook. One thing that you failed to remember." Carefully, ever so carefully, Axel hooked a finger through the top section of the headphones covering the quiet man's ears and gently, oh so gently, slid them off one ear.

Zexion's fingers finally stilled completely.

His lips right next to a pale ear, Axel whispered, "You forgot to plug in your headphones, Zexion."

He was suddenly met with whirling, affronted cobalt eyes and he grinned viciously.

And of course Demyx chose that moment to walk back in.

* * *

Demyx stood, arms crossed and an irritated look on his face. Before him sat Axel, who looked a little guilty (7), but there was a triumphant gleam to his eyes that the blond wasn't sure he liked.

"One rule, Axel. Just one rule! Don't bother Zexy!" he huffed, tapping his foot nervously. Why did Axel have to mess with his harmony? Everything was going so well…

Axel hung his head a little bit, shrugging as he tried to disappear into the comfortable couch. "Sorry, Dem. I couldn't restrain myself. You know how I am with impulse control."

Sighing, Demyx frowned, not amused. "Not that bad."

A deeper wave of remorse swept over Axel's angular face. Demyx turned to Zexion, who was sitting at his desk, observing the proceedings.

"Zexy, I am soooo sorry! I had no idea he was going to do that!"

As he was watching, an interesting change came over Zexion's expression. The steady cobalt eyes flickered downwards and to one side, not meeting Demyx's at all, while his lips pursed almost like he was biting the insides. The faintest hint of pink touched his cheeks, so light Demyx knew he must have been imagining it.

After all, Zexion blushing?

Impossible.

But absolutely adorable, if it wasn't some sort of hallucination.

Demyx blinked three times, just to make sure he was seeing things. By the third blink, the blush was gone. He sighed, regretting the loss of such an unusual expression, and began to get ready for bed, kicking Axel in the shin as he went.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

Stretching his arms as though reaching for the clouds, Demyx yawned, mentally cursing freshman classes. Anything that began before eleven should have been outlawed. They could be deemed cruel and unusual punishment! As he drew closer to the dorm building, Zexion fell seamlessly into step with him, and Demyx smiled at his roommate.

"Hey, Zexy, thanks."

A single eyebrow quirked inquisitively.

"For letting Axel stay the night. It made me really happy to be able to see him again."

There was a long pause before slender shoulders shrugged. Zexion unlocked the outside door, keeping his keys in hand for the door to their room. The two walked in silence the way up the stairs.

A voice greeted them as they walked in.

"Hey guys! How'd your classes go?"

Demyx blinked.

"Axel? What're you doing here? I thought you left!"

The lanky redhead laughed, and tossed a set of keys at Demyx, who caught them reflexively. Taking a closer look at them, Dem saw that they were his.

"I was looking for these…Axel, seriously, what the hell? Why do you have them?"

"Well, funny story about that! I jacked your keys this morning and made a copy for myself." White teeth flashed in a mischievous grin.

"I thought I'd stay here for a while."

* * *

And…done with chapter two!

- (1) – Demyx is totally the sort of person to use the word 'tippy-toes' in casual conversation.

- (2) – Oh ho ho, transparent is he?

- (3) – Again, Demyx, definitely the sort of person who believes in "See no evil, hear no evil".

- (4) – Axel. Person who speaks best through hand gestures. In my mind, his hands are never still. …and that's what Roxas said!

- (5) – Oh Demy. No idea how obvious you're acting….

- (6) – If you're the sort of person who cares about this sort of thing, this sounds remarkably like Gilgamesh's "Hooooh?" from Fate Stay Night. *grins*

- (7) – Like a chastened child….

Here we go! The first actual interaction that we see! How great for them! I'm actually really proud of this. Typing it was smooth, and there were only a couple of problems that I needed to fix. I might end up having "interludes" where I go back into the exposition style narration like the first chapter, but we'll see. Lemme know what you think?

Beta'd by: Evil-Pixie-Dust

**Next Chapter:** What Demyx and Zexion decide to do about Axel, the revelation of another problem with Zexion's speaking, and what a maze has to do with the price of tea in China!

Review, pretty please? They make me glow like a firefly! Glowing authoresses write better!


	3. Come and Join

**Disclaimers: **My fingerprints are all over this, but that doesn't mean I own anything other than the story.

**Author's Notes:** Man this chapter was hard! Obviously the muses' way of executing their writing karma. I do have the next chapter planned, so hopefully it won't take as long as this one did. *bows in apology* But seriously, to everyone who reviewed, THANK YOU! It did make it easier for me to get in the mood to write. I hope it came out okay, all things considered….

**Dedications: Evil-Pixie-Dust**. If I haven't mentioned that I loved you yet this day, here you go. I do, you know. **Dualism**. Because I can. This is for all of my favorite authors, and you're right up there on the top of the list. **Sarehptar.** You are awesome. Nuff said.

Ta-da! *curtain raises*

* * *

There was a confused silence in the dorm room.

"You thought WHAT?"

Thin shoulders rose in an unapologetic shrug, and a grin all-too characteristic of Axel flashed across his face. "I thought I'd crash here for a while. You know, stay in your room?" He seemed to realize something, though, and there was a flicker of uncertainty in too-green eyes. "I mean, it'd be cool, right?" Looking between Demyx and Zexion, the redhead's smile lost some of its confidence. "Guys?"

Demyx sighed. The irritation coming from his smaller roommate was almost tangible. With stiff movements, Zexion stalked over to his desk, setting down his books none-too-gently. He whipped around to stare icily at the intruder in their room.

"How long would you need to stay here?" the blond asked.

Thin shoulders rose in a shrug. "Long enough for me to get a job and a place. A month, maybe two?"

"Our RA would never let us keep a non-resident that long. Two days, tops." And people thought he didn't pay attention! He knew his rules!

Axel grinned suddenly. "Oh, you mean Larxene? Yeah, I already talked to her. She said it was fine and, in fact, encouraged it. True story."

Demyx's jaw dropped. "Impossible. She's a total bitch, how'd you-?"

"She's a sucker for hard liquor of any and all kinds." Axel waved a hand nonchalantly, "Preferably all."

"Oh my god, you bribed my RA to let you stay? With ALCOHOL?" The blond groaned. "What work do you do, anyway? I mean, it might take you longer than two months to get something landed…."

"I do odd jobs. I can fix most anything, I can wait tables, memorize a menu in under a day, mix drinks with the best of them, bounce people without hurting myself. Anything really. I didn't sell my body to keep moving, you know. I _can_ actually do things that are required for a respectable job."

Zexion's eyes were molted in different shades of glacier, evidence of his near-fury. The slight man grabbed Axel and yanked him around, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to yell at him. As it was, his mouth opened and closed several times, a soft, almost inaudible hissing and clicking sound emerging (1) as Zexion formed the words with only air, jaw tight with anger and shoulders hunched defensively.

There was silence after he finished.

It was Demyx who broke it first.

"Um, Axel, I think that means no."

* * *

Axel was staying.

Zexion was a little hazy on the details, but in the middle of their argument Larxene had interrupted them. There was a talk about how he, Zexion, needed more excitement in his life, how Demyx needed to interact with people who actually spoke (he had bristled at that), and a whole slew of other things.

End result: Axel was staying. And Zexion hated him.

Other end result: Demyx was extraordinarily happy with him for letting Axel stay.

Zexion still hated him.

Of course, Axel hated him too, so it was all fair.

Now they were setting up the room to accommodate another person. Demyx cheerfully gossiped about everything and nothing while hanging things up in the closet and Zexion sat at his desk and worked on not strangling the intruder. Axel, as the small man foresaw, was doing what he would always do: Nothing.

An electric glare was directed at the redhead lounging on his new 'bed'. Smug green eyes stared back, and a grin stretched slowly across the lean face. Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, Axel wondered, "So it's a psychological thing, is it?"

Demyx stopped chattering from the closet. His blonde faux-hawked head popped around the corner. "How is Doctor Vexen's Chemistry class a psychological thing? That really makes no sense."

"Not you, Dem. The pale unspeaking thing in the corner there."

A blink of sea-green eyes. "What's psychological about Zexy?"

Zexion shifted slightly, not liking the way Axel was eyeing him. It was as though he was some type of interesting fungus. Disgusting, but not something one would have to worry about hurting.

"His speaking problem. It's not so much that fact that he _doesn't_ talk as much as he _can't_," Axel explained.

A lilac eyebrow rose. Interesting. Someone had finally noticed that it was more than just unwillingness on his part. _What a pity that it was that miscreant, though,_ Zexion mentally sighed. _Only my luck would let _him_ notice first, before…_

He halted that train of thought and rewound it. Before who?

Who did he want to figure him out?

No one.

_No one, except…_

Cobalt eyes tracked the movement of one energetic blond, who was casually shrugging as he folded sheets and saying that he didn't care if Zexion could, would, or should speak, it was his choice and he would respect that. A smile that flashed and lingered like sunlight was directed his way, and the English major almost found himself smiling back.

_Except Demyx._

And that thought made his near-smile fade into a troubled frown.

* * *

"Demyx, really? Why are we doing this?"

Said blond grinned effortlessly and did a spin to face his two exasperated roommates. As he was walking backwards, he decided to enlighten them. "We're going to a maze."

Axel rolled his eyes, hands jammed into pockets of a sweater that was a garish gold and orange plaid and didn't fit in any of the right places (2). "We got that much. _Why_ are we going to the maze?"

Demyx stopped, his smile melting into an irritated frown, "Because it's been two weeks since you moved in, and the two of you _still_ don't get along! It's time for some neutral ground! At the maze, Zexy won't feel like you're taking over his space, and you won't think he's trying to kick you out."

"I don't _think_ it, I _know_ it," the redhead muttered, shooting a glare at Zexion. The shorter man, Demyx saw, allowed himself the smallest of smirks, and he shook his head ruefully. He didn't know why they didn't get along (they were more similar than either was willing to admit), but it was sometimes funny to watch the extremes they would get to. Then, of course, it just got annoying. Tuning back in to Axel's disgruntled mumbling, the musician caught only disjointed words.

"…little ungrateful…..trying to help….not my fault…too much of a _wuss_ to….from wherever it's lodged…."

There it was, the tension rising in Zexion's shoulders that happened right before he started formulating an evil scheme to get back at his unwelcome roommate. Demyx shuddered as he was reminded of the persistently wet clothes that had been Zexion's latest revenge plot.

Who knew Zexion could disable all the dryers without getting caught?

Throwing himself in between the two of them, laughing loudly, Demyx wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "You say things! It's funny! C'mon, the maze is kinda an excuse to get out of the room. I'm bored in there, so humor me."

Somehow, making the reason they were there for him made both of them agree to it.

Demyx had always known he had magical powers.

Why they only worked now and only on these two, he didn't know.

But the maze was waiting. And it would be legendary (3). He had always loved wandering around in them, knowing that everyone else was just as blind as he was for once. The high walls, confusing turns, it made him feel safe when he was with his friends. The blond knew that he would be rushing ahead of the two downers behind him and waiting behind a corner to jump out at them and frighten them.

After all, what was the fun if no one else was there? Then you were just lost.

And no one liked being lost.

Axel growled in frustration, rounding a corner to be met with yet another dead-end. He didn't have to turn around to know that the pale man behind him was smirking in that miniscule way he had that made it seem like he was hiding the remainder of his amusement.

Only, when he faced Zexion, the other was looking behind them, and if the Axel didn't know any better, he would have said that the slight man appeared almost worried.

Running his hand through his hair, Axel sighed. "God damn it, Demyx, this is all your fault!"

Zexion glared at him, but the unease on his face tempered the normally soul-killing look. Pale hands curled into fists and uncurled again, fingers flexing uncertainly and his eyes were turned back behind them, obviously searching agitatedly. There was a gentle wave of compassion through Axel's heart and he almost reached out to pat Zexion's shoulder before he remembered that they didn't get along and the gesture wouldn't be appreciated.

Damn the small man for being so complicated. And cute.

Letting a breath that was almost a groan, Axel went back the way they came. "Dem! This is no longer fun!"

Silence.

A bit more cautiously, if louder. "Demyx?"

There was no answer.

Suddenly, Axel knew why Zexion was so antsy.

"Only you, Demyx, would get lost," Axel growled. He quickened his steps. Damn Demyx for suggesting this, and leaving him alone with the person who hated him most in the world besides that one guy whose house he had burned down (4). Damn him and his persuasion skills, and his ability to get lost.

They crunched along in silence, the gravel making the footing awkward and the quiet even more so. A couple of minutes later, the two were still no closer to finding Demyx, and the redhead had an evil idea. Since they were stuck wandering together, why not have some fun with the brat?

With that in mind, Axel slowed down, beginning the careful process of cornering Zexion. First step, verbal surprises.

"So, Zexion..."

The slate-haired man flinched ever-so-slightly. A grin formed on Axel's face.

"You've been listening in to Demyx talking to you? How sneaky…. And now you also know that you can't ever tell him because then he'd stop sharing these things with you. Poor Zexion...whatever are you going to do?"

Pale hands clenched into fists briefly before relaxing. That relaxation didn't translate to the rest of him though, as Zexion's entire frame was tenser than before. Axel's grin grew into a smirk.

Phase one, complete.

Step two, physical….

* * *

He didn't want to admit that he was worried, but damnit, where the hell was Demyx?

Zexion paced anxiously behind Axel, who was still babbling away, though the shorter man had long since tuned him out. Until he found himself unable to move, his way blocked by Axel's body. Inhaling the smell of fire that surrounded the redhead, Zexion tried to escape the imposed capture.

"So…"

Oh, how Zexion was learning to _hate_ that word….

"I wonder if you'll make sounds if you're taken…."

Eyes widening, he stiffened, fury and a sense of fright warring inside him for control. Unfortunately, he froze. A single warm finger traced his jaw gently and the pale man reflexively batted it away, shoulders rigid. There was an amused laugh, almost patronizing, as Axel leaned over him, forcing him against the wall of the maze in order to get away from the unwanted contact. Green met cobalt in a livid staring contest.

That smug, irritating grin adorning Axel's lean face yet again, the redhead backed away, turning to look for Demyx again. A strategic withdrawal. Zexion knew he hadn't won the battle, only a brief respite.

Really, where was Demyx to keep this madman away from him? The only time he wasn't harassed was when the blond was around.

The wind shifted and Zexion raised his face to it in an effort to clear his head. He breathed in, smelling cold gravel and something…a blink and he inhaled again, trying to discern the second scent. Something that smelled of water, sunscreen, sweat, skin, and sun. (5)

_Demyx_.

He moved a couple of steps towards Axel, sniffed and shook his head. _Not that way. Behind, backwards, turn around._ Zexion started going in the direction of the smell.

"Hey, where're you going?"

The slate-haired man shifted to look at Axel, who was standing at the other end of the corridor they were in, staring at him curiously. Sighing, Zexion snapped his fingers imperiously and pointed to the ground at his side (6), indicating that Axel was to follow him. He enjoyed the expression of disbelief that crossed the redhead's face, but he didn't wait to see if the other would actually follow, he just went where he thought he smelled Demyx.

"Oi, Zexion, that's just a dead-end! Are you even listening?"

The scent was getting stronger. His steps quickened. The crunch and slide of gravel blocked out Axel's nasal voice. Where? He turned left at a junction, shook his head, turned right, strides lengthening in an effort to cover more ground.

Another right.

Where?

Straight.

Where?

Left.

_Where are you, Demyx?_

He followed the maze's winding corridor, slowing as he reached the end. One final turn. If he was wrong then he would have just wasted so much time….

A deep breath.

He stepped around the corner.

There –sitting curled over himself, head on knees, arms wrapped around legs- was Demyx.

Red-rimmed eyes lifted at the sound of steps –he had been crying, that wasn't right, Demyx shouldn't cry, never cry-, and a hoarse whimper escaped the blonde's throat. A slight blur of movement was all the warning he got before a shivering Demyx was in his arms.

Zexion blinked. There was someone crying on him (7). He awkwardly raised his hands and gently patted Demyx's back.

Rocks grated in protest as they were trod on. Axel was behind them. "Whoa, whoa, Demy. What's up? It's just a maze. You're alright."

Demyx buried his face into Zexion's shoulder, breathing slowly calming down. Hands that gripped the shorter man's coat didn't let go, though. "S'not alright," he muttered, voice shaking. "Was scared…"

Suddenly, Zexion understood. Demyx hated being lost. Hated feeling helpless, thinking that no one would be able to find him. He turned his face into Demyx's hair, smelling sunlight and water all over again, and breathed gently on his roommate's ear in the only comforting gesture he could give.

It managed to tease a small laugh out of the taller student, and Demyx slowly let Zexion go, leaving Zexion to feel bereft of something. He shook his head, letting his hair cover his face again, and knew that he would have to seriously analyze himself when he got back to the room. What was up with him?

"So…"

He flinched (8), but it was Demyx saying it this time, wiping tears from the corners of his smiling eyes.

"Did you two get to know each other better through this?"

Axel wrapped an arm around the blonde and one around Zexion (to his surprise and chagrin). "Oh yes, Dem. More than you'd know. And we found something even more important."

Zexion almost smiled when he saw the humor in Demyx's green-blue eyes.

"Oh? What is it?"

A Cheshire grin. "We found the exit."

As they walked to the exit, the two friends laughing and joking as though nothing had ever happened, Zexion mused. Maybe their new roommate would stop bothering him if there were other people to torment….

And Demyx could always use some more friends.

* * *

It was dark outside.

That was the first thing Zexion processed as he felt his bed shift with someone else's weight. His sleep-clouded mind fumbling for proper cognitive function, he rolled away from the person, sitting up to blink blearily at them.

What the hell was Axel doing in his bed?

Green eyes glinted at him in the light from the window and Axel smirked, motioning him closer. Obviously he was stupider than Zexion had originally thought if he thought he would get any nearer the other man than he had to.

Axel rolled his eyes and grabbed Zexion's shirt, yanking him down. The slate-haired man tensed, feeling warm lips next to his ear. A purring voice made him focus.

"I'm cold, and I sleep better with other people, so just shut up and cuddle with me."

Zexion pulled back and frowned at him. Really? That was his reasoning? Unceremoniously tugged back down, he braced himself on forearms and elbows.

"I could always go and sleep in Demyx's bed, but you and I both know why I won't do that. I'll wake up before he does and get out of your bed, that way he doesn't know, alright?" At his continued non-agreeing posture, Axel let out a ragged sigh. "Look, just let me sleep here for one night and then you can do whatever the hell you want to in the morning. I'm tired of sleeping on that couch."

Zexion sighed. The half of his mind that hated the redhead wanted to kick him out. But the stronger, sleepier half of his brain just begged him to go back to sleep.

It was no contest as to who won.

Curling himself into his usual sleeping position, Zexion resolved to ignore the warm body in his bed. He didn't expect Axel to move closer, cuddling him. He didn't expect it to be comfortable. He definitely didn't expect to sigh and not protest it. Then again, he never thought clearly when he was tired.

Maybe he could look at it again in the morning….

* * *

Finito Chapter 3!

- (1) – Try it. It's actually possible do make certain sounds, like "s", "t", and other letters you form mainly with your tongue. It's really quiet, but you can do it without using your vocal cords.

- (2) – Seriously, I love BadFashionSense!Axel. It makes me laugh. He's the sort of person who'd do it just because he can.

- (3) – And thus did Barney Stinson take over the world.

- (4) – One of those "No, you really don't want to know" sort of stories that you really wanna know.

- (5) – Go to Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels, Texas. You'll smell it there. It's a good smell.

- (6) – I actually do this snapping thing. Bad habit on my part.

- (7) – The idea that Zexion is so intent on finding Demyx that he stops thinking like himself appeals to me. He seems like the type of person who would focus so much that he forgets who he is and how he acts beyond accomplishing his goal.

- (8) – Like Pavlov's dog.

And no, Axel is not trying to put the moves on Zexion. He's really just trying to freak him out. And he's doing a good job. Sleepy Zexion doesn't think like Awake Zexion. Sleepy Zexion just wants to be Asleep Zexion.

Beta'd by: The lovely, magnificent, always wonderful, **Evil-Pixie-Dust**

**Evil-Pixie-Dust:** BY THE WAY, dear readers, she really does do the snapping thing. And she calls for you like she would a puppy….or maybe that's just what she does to me, but either way, she really does it. And she also does the Sleepy Zene does not think like Awake Zene.

**Next Chapter:** Interlude: Fall to winter, meetings, and something about snow.

And as a matter of fact, I did glow from your reviews! This chapter honestly couldn't have gotten out any faster than it did. The next one might come out even faster if more people review…. /smiles hopefully


	4. Waltz

**Disclaimers: **There are days where I really wish I could come up with something clever to say that I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Today is one of them.

**Author's Notes:** Welcome back, interlude-style! This is going to be a little interesting, since…well, you'll see. Don't worry; it won't just be a filler chapter. It's actually important to the plot. Most, if not all, of the "interlude" chapters will be. Part of this was easy to write, part of it was hard, but it was well worth it in the end, I think. In case anyone was wondering about the timeline, the first chapter covered until a couple of weeks after Zexion and Demyx met. The second one was in September, and the third skipped towards the end of September. So this is end of September, beginning of October, if it makes a difference to you. I don't know if it will, but sometimes it's nice to know these things.

**Dedications: **To **Evil-Pixie-Dust. **Life without you as my beta and friend would be quite a bit more hectic. Especially for my readers. They don't really deserve what I dish out before you look at it and tell me what's wrong.** To anyone and everyone who has read this, or reviewed it, or favorite-d it, or watched it**. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! It means a lot when I look at the stats and see them steadily rising! Certainly, it makes me want to write more! **To Dualism**. Maybe there's a lot of stuff going on, but seriously, you still rock awesome. And that is totally a phrase. **To Sarehptar**. Work your magic, Sareh, no matter how long it takes.

**Reviews:**

**XTwoHeartsX: **O.O I hope you don't crawl into my bed and do something horror! I hate horror movies! Demyx and Axel might fight over Zexion, but I'm unsure of how to do that without making it seem too love-triangle. Who doesn't like Axel giving anybody a hard time? *snarfs Cookies greedily* Thank you for your review!

**Zenxara: ***flushes* Thank you so much! Zexion didn't even stop to consider how he would look. A lot of things to be said for the subconscious, ne? And Axel probably will have a lot to do with it, if nothing else because he needles so much there is no way for Zexion to take it silently forever. Demyx wants them to not hate each other at all, but as long as we're being realistic, there's practically no chance of that happening suddenly. Thank you again for the review!

*bows to the audience* Without further ado….

* * *

Zexion wasn't quite sure what he expected when he woke up the morning after the maze.

He didn't expect to wake up in a tangle of limbs with someone's breath on his neck and their head pillowed on his shoulder.

Understandably, his next reaction was to get whoever it was out of the bed.

Especially since that person was Axel.

This proved slightly more difficult than expected. Axel was apparently part-octopus while he slept (1), and was more than unwilling to give up on his cuddle-toy. Every move the pale man made was expertly -if unconsciously- blocked and he was returned to his previous position. Axel never stirred once. After fifteen minutes of useless struggle, Zexion frowned and decided a more direct course of action was required.

Elbowing Axel in the face certainly did get him out of the bed. It even woke him up.

Fact about Axel: He was loud and quite vulgar when he was tired and pissed off.

The redhead's cursing unfortunately also woke up Demyx, who took in the scene in front of him with sleepy eyes. The blonde proceeded to yawn, stumble out of bed, and force the yelling man to sit down on the couch. Zexion allowed himself a smug smirk. It seemed his roommate was on his side.

As Zexion readied himself calmly for the rest of the day, Demyx scolded Axel for bothering the lilac-haired man while he slept. Ignoring the redhead's protests that it was all Zexion's fault, Demyx turned to Zexion and wished him a good day of classes.

_Oh if he only knew what today will bring…._ Zexion nodded back.

A soft smile was his answer.

He departed, leaving Axel to glare at his back while nursing the bruise that was forming on his face and Demyx to gently patch up the too-thin man, mind whirling with possible scenarios.

The plans started today.

* * *

It wasn't quite a week later when a man stormed into their room, the faint aroma of potpourri and incense surrounding him. He demanded to see Demyx, and the blond stood, obviously confused.

One hand irately flipping a lock of pink hair over a shoulder, the man explained that he was to tutor Demyx in Biology.

Demyx shook his head. He wasn't taking Biology.

The man blinked and frowned, insisting that he must be mistaken. Apparently the man had received anonymous emails informing him that he was to meet with one Demyx Trepe on pain of humiliation in various forms and subsequent defenestration if he didn't (2). He was even being paid.

Laughing –because really, it was kinda funny-, Demyx shook his head again. He was a Music major. Why would he be taking Biology?

Floundering for an answer, the pink-haired student wavered in the door before uttering a short goodbye and leaving, only to come back in a couple of minutes later. He sat down on the floor and promptly began to study Biology, saying that even if Demyx wasn't taking it, he himself needed to do some work, and this was as good a place as any. Everyone in the room just blinked at him.

The next day, the same student barged into their room and plopped down onto the couch next to a rather surprised Axel. Turning a shade of red that complimented his hair, he muttered something about studying for a Chemistry test and his roommate being uncooperative.

Every day it was something different that he needed to study for, some new class that his roommate wouldn't let him concentrate on. Every day he was in their room, and almost every day, he got next to no work done because he was too busy joking around.

After another week, Demyx simply laughed as he answered the door and held up a hand to halt the student's excuses. Shaking his head, Demyx only said that if the other wanted to hang out, he didn't have to pretend it was for homework.

Marluxia –it had taken them this long to learn even his name, since he just introduced himself- just nodded and came in to sit and talk to them.

The next day at dinner, a blond, goateed man slammed his tray down on the table next to Demyx and Marluxia –who had taken to eating dinner with them while he was pretending to study. He informed them that his name was Luxord, and simply sat down to eat with no further explanation.

Since a scowl was darkening his face, no one chose to ask why he was there, until he followed them back to Demyx and Zexion's room, still having said barely a word all evening. Axel was the first to break the ice and ask him what he was doing.

Apparently, Luxord (who they later found out was somewhat of a celebrity on campus) had lost a bet. And Luxord had _never_ lost a bet before. He never said what the bet was about or who else it involved, only that the payment required him to eat dinner with Demyx, Axel, and Marluxia.

Demyx blinked and curiously asked him why he was still there if the bet only said that he had to eat dinner with them.

The blond man shrugged, mentioned something about the group being sort of fun, and immediately whipped out a pack of cards, a confident grin adorning his handsome face.

They played poker until four in the morning.

Luxord never lost a game. (3)

The next day, Demyx woke up to a fierce grin in his face and an offer to get in on some of the best betting at the school. After he got over the shock of waking up to that terrifying smile, the prospects began boiling out. If there was a slight chance people would bet on it, Luxord ran the postings. Grad student lounge suddenly running out of coffee? Sixteen to one. Doctor Vexen's lab blowing up during the chemistry lab on Wednesday? Fifteen to two. Larxene's underwear ending up on a frat boy's head next party? Twenty to one. Quickly, Axel and Marluxia shelled out money, betting that none of which would ever happen.

They found out later that Luxord's bets always had a way of happening. And that he did not accept refunds.

_One and two._

* * *

Their circle of friends was slowly expanding.

Demyx couldn't explain it. People would simply show up, hang out with them, and just keep coming back. Slowly, he found himself opening up to these other students, overcoming both his shyness and his tendency to talk too much. Marluxia could be found in their room after his classes almost every day. His roommate, a football player named Tidus, wasn't actually as bad as Marluxia made him out to be, and wandered in for some help on math sometimes.

Luxord, in between managing the betting pool and his classes (though not even Demyx knew what he took or what he did), also made appearances frequently, stepping in with a sly remark about fate and probability when no one expected it. He was extraordinarily good with numbers, but wasn't half bad with helping someone with an essay either, though his reasoning tended to be a little convoluted.

Most recently was a slight, almost waifish girl. Her eyes saw everything, and she had a soft smile and a _sotto voce _way of talking that ensured that everyone stopped to listen to her. Namine, as she introduced herself, was an art major, who had heard Demyx playing his guitar in the hallways. She immediately sat down with them at lunch once she found out who that musician was, and showed them the pieces of work that had been inspired by Demyx's music.

She was a good friend with a surprisingly dry sense of humor that contrasted so much with her typical warm nature that it normally took them all a couple of minutes to realize that what she had just said was a joke. Many serious moments during movie nights had been ruined by a swift, witty comment from Namine. No one really minded.

Demyx found himself laughing with these people, listening to them and talking to them in an endless push-and-pull game of emotions. No one person "headed" the group. They were just all there, drawn by some force of chance.

It felt…right, in a way nothing had ever felt right before.

Except the talks with Zexion.

And those were happening more and more infrequently.

It was hard to find a time when it was just the two of them alone. Someone was always there, or they weren't in the room, where it was safe for Demyx to talk to his pale, silent roommate. Demyx attempted to will away the forlorn ache his heart had started to develop –after all, he had lots of friends now, so he couldn't be lonely. But really, he missed letting the other man in, missed seeing The Expression cross the angular face, missed opening his heart to Zexion.

But there wasn't anything he could do about that without asking his friends to go away. So he hung out with Axel, with Marluxia, with Luxord and Namine, and tried to ignore his irrational melancholy.

All the while, he felt considering cobalt eyes on him.

_Three_.

* * *

Zexion only blinked when someone placed a tray across from him at the table. He only raised one eyebrow when a person slid into the seat and smiled at him.

His eyes widened in a little bit of shock when the person reached out a hand and introduced himself as Sora.

Sora, as the boy –really the same age as he was, but so _young_ in mind (4)- started to explain, was a friend of Demyx's. He had heard _so much_ about Zexion, and had just found out that they had the same lunch break on the one day Demyx couldn't eat lunch with him because of a Music Theory class. Zexion thought he was more talkative than Demyx himself, though that might have been caused by the sheer enthusiasm that painted all of the brunet's words.

As he listened with one ear, nodding every once in a while to keep Sora going, the slate-haired man had a bit of an epiphany.

He missed the talks he had with Demyx.

When it had just been the two of them, the blond had relaxed, something changing in the way he thought. His voice became softer, more comfortable, and he smiled readily, with a slow shifting of lips and eyes. He stopped rushing out words and just said them quietly, in their own time. There were times when Demyx spoke to him like that when Zexion hated his farce with his headphones. He knew it was necessary, but he wanted nothing more in the world than to turn around and watch Demyx's eyes as he revealed these thoughts.

Thoughts of how he viewed things as sounds and colors rather than objects and words, how a stapler made a hollow ringing noise if you stapled something and then held it close to your ear (5). How in Demyx's even quieter moments, he said that Zexion was the only one he told these things, which caused a warm sensation to rest below the pale man's sternum that not even Axel could disperse.

How Demyx had slowly and softly told him the last time they talked that he really liked Zexion.

Though Zexion had known it before, from the revelation when Axel had first arrived, this had been the first time he said it out loud.

It meant a lot.

Sora never seemed to notice that he hadn't been paying attention and simply chattered to him, passing gossip about people without seeming like he was actually gossiping. To the sky-eyed boy, they were simply interesting rumors which were completely untrue until proven correct.

And so it was that Sora, a Theater Major, ate lunch with Zexion on the days that Demyx couldn't. Eventually he followed the pattern of everyone else the two had met, and started came to their room to hang out. Sora, surprisingly innocent without being naïve, got along famously with everyone there, especially Axel.

Still, it wasn't enough to distract the redhead from his game of Zexion baiting. More would have to be done.

_Four_.

* * *

It took some time before Demyx began to suspect that Zexion might have had something to do with all the new people showing up.

Marluxia, it turned out, had been complaining about his roommate right outside of Zexion's Classical Literature class. It wouldn't have been too hard to find out what his name was, and his school issued email after that. Not many people were pink-haired men, and even fewer pink-haired, male, and Biology majors. Zexion could have easily been the source of the strange emails, and he was knowledgeable enough to threaten defenestration and actually be able to carry out the threat.

Demyx, on the other hand, still didn't know what 'defenestration' even meant. Something really nasty, from the way it sounded.

Luxord…Demyx had no explanation for that. Some bet he lost obviously, though what Luxord would go for where he was certain to lose, he couldn't imagine. Zexion was tricky though, so it wasn't impossible for him to have fooled the gambler. If he asked Luxord about it, he only got a quirked eyebrow and a scowl for reminding him that he had actually _lost_ in a game of chance. The musician quickly learned to not ask.

With Luxord, it was better to leave him to volunteer his own information. He got easily offended when people started digging for facts about him.

When he talked to Namine, though, he found out that she was actually _in_ Zexion's Classical Literature class, and that class was where she found a note telling her who Demyx was. It was too much of a coincidence for it to be anything other than deliberate, no matter what Luxord said about chance and probability.

Sora was the only one that could be traced back to Demyx, and the blond was grateful that Zexion had someone to distract him during his lunch. The small man was actually prone to not eating because he was thinking too much. Demyx decided he didn't want to find out how Sora found the dining hall Zexion ate in, since it was quite far away from the one he normally used. The possibilities were too strange to think of. Knowing Sora however, he probably followed one of those hunches that he got (6). They were eerily accurate at times, though it made for some great stories.

But when he asked Zexion if he had set up all these meetings between people, all he got in answer was a sidelong look and a slight, hidden smile. Which wasn't really an answer, since it was his way of saying maybe he did, and maybe he didn't.

Demyx's translator sometimes failed in the nuances of Zexion's more complex expressions.

* * *

Zexion could never figure out why he humored his roommate so much.

Shivering slightly and shifting his bare feet on the cold pavement, he wrapped his arms around himself, wishing he had been smart enough to at least put on something besides his pajamas. It was past midnight. What were they doing out there? No normal person would be outside at this time of night.

_But then,_ he thought wryly,_ it's not like Demyx and I are _normal_, now is it?_

Demyx laughed, and the sound drew Zexion's attention to him. The blond stood, head thrown back, arms stretched out as though he could grab the sky if he reached far enough (7). Eyes that were neither green nor blue were closed and a joyful smile transformed his face from something pleasant to look at to breathtaking.

And snow was falling.

Suddenly understanding why Demyx had dragged him outside, Zexion held out a hand, marveling at the flakes that hit his skin with miniature taps. Examining their delicate crystalline structure, he caught them on his fingertips and watched them melt.

And then he watched Demyx.

This first snow would not last beyond tonight, they knew that. It didn't even cover the ground now, melting off as soon as it hit. But Demyx never let that bother him. He danced with it instead, moving in a delighted, child-like way that conveyed more grace than any structured dance Zexion had ever seen. Swaying to look up at the snow as it fell, Demyx sighed, and a more contented sound could not be found.

Watching him like this, completely relaxed and at ease with his place in the world, Zexion hoped this was the expression on the musician's face when they had their conversations. Few things could rival the purity of the look of security Demyx had at that moment. Zexion wanted…

He shook his head. There were no words for what he wanted.

Not when he didn't understand his own desires anymore.

People used to be so easy for him to read. When had that changed? Had he changed, become less analytical, less critical? Was it a lack of _wanting_ to understand others? Because he certainly didn't feel the need to crawl inside others' heads anymore. Was it Demyx? Had his blond roommate become so intrinsic to his own life that no one else was important?

Or was he just having so much trouble understanding Demyx that everyone else's motivations became simple?

And _why_ did he want to know so much anyway? It wasn't like Demyx could really be all that complicated.

Only he could be, because Zexion still had no idea why Demyx did anything. He never even knew if Demyx kept breathing because he had to, or if he actually found a sort of visceral pleasure in the act of staying alive. Nothing Demyx did was simple. Not even breathing, not even blinking, and certainly not loving.

_Why did Demyx like him?_

It made no sense.

But as Zexion watched Demyx smile at him -snowflakes highlighting his pale eyelashes, glistening in his hair, body arched slightly backwards in a hymn to delight and excitement, aqua eyes open and bright and _engulfing_, and, damn it, no person had the _right_ to stop his breath like that- he was forced to admit that love very rarely made sense.

And he rubbed the gently aching spot in his chest.

* * *

…Man I love those last lines….

Perhaps not as humorous a note to end on as last time, but I think it needed to end softly and sweetly. Everyone needs that moment when their heart aches and they have to close their eyes and murmur, "Ah…."

I hope this was one of those moments in this story.

- (1) – This is another one of those things that I enjoy imagining Axel doing.

- (2) – Ah, defenestration. Sounds so much worse than it actually is. I love that word.

- (3) – Makes you wonder why they kept playing. I suspect they weren't playing for real money!

- (4) – Sora speaks with a sort of idealism that makes him seem younger, I think. And Zexion kind of responds to that.

- (5) – True story, it does. Has to be a bit more of an old-school stapler, I think, but it's an awesome noise.

- (6) – Sora's intuition will play a pretty big part in this, I think. There are a couple of …situations that will crop up that he'll suddenly know about. Oh no! Sora's the really psychic one! Not really.

- (7) – The sort of stretch that makes your back ache and you feel like you're about to fall over, but your arms seem like they can reach forever and ever and touch the sky.

**Beta'd by:** The AWE-INSPIRING **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. Because my opinion of her is the only one that matters. She is awesome in my eyes, 'nuff said.

**Evil-Pixie-Dust:** Then why do more people like your stories than mine? (Despite my lack of updating and my strange love for pairings like Jyou X Koushiro or Seto X Mokuba…._….shut up.)

**NEXT CHAPTER: **Do the words "HALLOWEEN TIME" frighten anyone else? Partners, IHOP, odd outfits, and another person is added to the mix.

/dances and flails like a fool* If I dance, will more reviews come? If I promise cookies (and a couple of new stories, if anyone's interested….*hint hint*) will there be more reviews?

I hope so, because knowing that wonderful people like this story makes me so happy! And everyone who reads this is wonderful!


	5. Alice

**Disclaimers: **In the words of Barney Stinson: "Heh, please."

**Author's Note:** LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. All you need is love? And I need a lot of it! I'm so sorry this took so long to get out! College has been not nice to me, and between the tests and stuff, this was a difficult chapter to write. And once I was done with it, it was already two in the morning on November First, so I'm at least a day late…. *sighs* Oh well.

**Dedications: Evil-Pixie-Dust**. There will be shameless plugs for your fics! TRUST ME! **Dualism**. I love you, you're so sweet! Keep doing what you're doing! **Sarehptar.** Keep on rocking awesome, dear. **Sorceress Fantasia.** Because I remembered today that you were the first one to introduce me to Kingdom Hearts fiction. I never would've even played the first game if you hadn't done that.

**SHAMELESS PLUGGING TIME: **I implore you, my good readers, to go look at _A Solution To My Heartache_ by **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. It's a beautiful eight-chapter Yami no Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness) fic that's the first in a trilogy. The main pairing is Tatsumi/Watari, and it's quite excellent. Please go read it!

**Review Replies:**

**Zenxara: **Yeah, it kinda was just a "let's meet the friends" chapter. And Zexion has met his match in these people. He's not quite as in control as he's used to, so his plans sometimes still have unexpected results. Thank you for the review!

**XTwoHeartsX: **Oh thank goodness. I'm used to being tortured by psychotic people, but horror movies freak me out so much. Thank you so much, though, for noticing that Demyx went for the smaller things first. As for the rest, you'll just have to wait and see. *wink wink* Yaaay! Chocolate! *noms happily*

**C: : **I think the line reads "subsequent defenestration", but hey, severe could just tell you the height of the window you're being thrown from! *grins* I think everyone's wondering what bet it was, but I'm not sure it'll ever come up. Zexion does think he's very much in control of himself, but he's had very little real-world experience. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it!

So on, so forth…

* * *

"No."

"YES!"

"Totally should."

"Sounds pretty awesome, I have to admit…."

"Will there be alcohol or blood involved?"

"Can I make money off of it?"

"…"

Axel nodded as he looked around the crowded room, counting absently on his fingers. "Alright, that's three for, one against, two don't-cares, and one who abstains courteously (1). Seems like we're doing it." A wicked smirk crossed his face and he rubbed his hands together gleefully.

Demyx groaned, letting his head fall to hit his desk. Then, just for good measure, he hit his head on the desk again. "Noooo, why do we have to do thiiiis? It doesn't seem like any sort of fun!"

Slinging an arm around the blonde's shoulders and pulling his head away from further intimate contact with the desk, Axel replied, "But, Dem, it _will_ be fun! I mean, it just doesn't get better than this! Right everyone?"

Demyx raised pleading eyes to the rest of the room, though he knew it was a hopeless cause. Sora was already bouncing in excitement, Tidus and Marluxia were plotting, Namine wasn't there to help him, and Larxene and Luxord really just didn't care. Zexion, though…

Axel headed off that idea. "Zexion agrees with me."

"No he doesn't! He never agrees with you!" Demyx wailed. But the sad truth was he could see the spark of interest in his roommate's eyes. He knew he had lost.

_Why, world? Why do you hate me?_

The musician pouted, giving up with an ungraceful groan, and he pushed Axel's arm from his shoulders in a gesture of abject defeat, placing his head on the desk again. "Fine, alright, we can do it," he muttered, a scowl adorning his usually sunny face.

Axel's grin stretched razor-sharp across his face. "Awesome, Halloween costumes by pairs it is." He whipped out a hat and some paper, apparently having anticipated his victory. "Names in the hat, we're going to draw for partners."

"Alright, Axel, what are we doing again?" Larxene drawled even as she snatched a piece of paper and began languidly writing on it.

The redhead took in a deep breath and once again launched into the explanation. "Instead of everyone picking out their own costumes, we're going to partner up. Partner A-" he grabbed Demyx again, ignoring the blonde's flailing protests, "-will choose the costume for Partner B-" leaning out to snag the nearest person, Sora, "-and vice versa according to our theme, which I will announce after we draw partners. The only person allowed to know about your costume until Halloween is your partner. No one else. We'll meet on Halloween and change here." He looked around at them. "Understood?"

Tidus pitched his name in, whooping as it fell in without touching the sides. "Yuh!"

Larxene sneered at the football player, but sniffed a second later, also placing her name into the hat.

"Wait a second, why is everyone putting in their name? Shouldn't we only have half in?" Marluxia asked, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

Shaking his head, Axel got the last couple of names in the hat. "I'll pull out the partner's names once they're chosen. This makes it even more random."

Luxord stroked his goatee, eyes gleaming at the chance. "Fifteen bucks says I'll get Marluxia."

Said Biology major rolled his eyes. "And the chances of that are what? No, don't tell me," he said, holding up a hand to forestall the gambler's answer, "I know you've already figured it out. So, who draws first?"

The hat was offered to him.

Sighing, Marluxia reached in and grabbed a piece of paper. Opening it, he sighed, scowled, and tossed it at Luxord halfheartedly. "One day, you're going to tell me how you know these things. I promise, I will _make_ you tell me. In detail."

Axel smirked, fishing Luxord's name out as well and passing the hat to Tidus. "Keep it going."

* * *

In the end, Zexion mused, the partners could have been worse.

Marluxia was still fuming about his predicted pairing with Luxord, Larxene smirked at Tidus in a way that was more of a vicious baring of teeth than a smile, and he was paired with Sora, not Axel. The only downside was that now, Demyx had to put up with that madman's antics.

Though he was quite interested in seeing what sort of costume Axel chose for Demyx.

For the moment, he turned his gaze back to the energetic brunette, who was happily rattling off a number of costumes he thought might work well for Zexion. The pale man winced at a few of them. Really? A cat-girl? Surely, Sora wasn't _as _unobservant as to mistake Zexion's gender, was he?

There were times, though, when Zexion really thought he might be.

Then Axel stood, arms crossed and head tilted back arrogantly. The room quieted after a few moments, though Zexion thought it was more from curiosity than any sort of liking. He had to quietly remind himself that not everyone hated Axel as much as he did.

"The theme…" the redhead paused dramatically, fever-green gaze sweeping the room, "for this year's Halloween Partner Costume Contest iiiiissssss….!" Another pause.

A snort came from Larxene as she lied down indolently. "Just get on with it, fire-pants. (2)"

Axel sent her a disgruntled glare and a frown that was on the verge of being a pout before saying, "Complete Opposites."

There was silence.

Sora turned to Zexion, eyes wide, "Alright, I've got nothing."

Zexion hid a smirk. This was perfect. The ideal costume for Sora whirled in his brain, but he turned his attention to Axel again as the redhead started speaking.

"Basically, choose a costume that reflects exactly what your partner _isn't._ Like how for Demyx here, I'm going to try and pick out something ridiculously slutty. Because he isn't normally." Axel grinned down at Demyx's mortified, blushing face.

"You…you aren't really going to, are you?" the blonde pleaded, aqua eyes wide and terrified.

Axel ruffled Demyx's hair with a good-natured laugh, a cutting smirk on his face that belied his friendly actions. "Maybe, kid, but you don't have to know that." He spoke again to the room, "And your partner does have to agree with what you pick. You can't force them into a costume against their will, though all forms of persuasion are allowed."

Tidus immediately turned to Larxene, determination plain on his face. "I refuse to cross-dress."

"Oh, pooh," Larxene purred, a very disturbing sound that was made of nothing close to happiness, "And here I was going to make you dress up as a cheerleader…"

Everyone in the room laughed, even as Tidus blanched and grinned with them.

It felt good to have people, Zexion admitted. They could be amusing.

Then he caught the glint in Axel's green eyes as the redhead studied him covertly and had to sigh.

And sometimes they could be really annoying.

Everyone left after another hour of debate, plotting their partners' demise.

Demyx sighed. The silence was nice after all the clamor about the idea Axel had. It seemed like forever since there had been quiet, and the blonde fully blamed Axel for it. His eyes swung over to the redhead. Now he only had to decide what to do about Axel, since he looked a little upset about…something, and those too-green eyes resting on Zexion for long lengths of time never ended up being good.

Demyx had given up on understanding the inner workings of Axel's convoluted mind.

He hooked an arm around Axel's bony shoulders, reaching out with his other hand to poke at the single inverted teardrop tattoo under his eye (3). Barely flinching, Axel waved him aside like an annoying fly, still watching Sora murmur animatedly to Zexion who –Demyx noted with a twinge of jealousy- was listening intently.

Poking him again seemed like a good idea. And it worked out a little of his frustration.

This time, Axel turned to him, an expression like confusion and irritation bubbling to the surface of his gaze. "What?" he snapped, a frown twisting his lips.

Demyx prodded him one last time just to satisfy his need for petty violence before answering him. "What are you thinking about?"

Axel's eyes slid back towards Zexion for a brief second, but they found their way to Demyx. "Nothing, really. I was just bemoaning the loss of getting to dress Zexion up in drag."

From the way his pale roommate stiffened, Demyx knew that Axel's words had hit their mark. Zexion didn't bother turning to face them, but he did hiss slightly.

Both Axel and Demyx blinked at him. _Huh, _Demyx thought, _I guess he's trying to make it easier for us to understand him_. For some reason, that thought made his heart ache a little. He really enjoyed being the only one who could figure out Zexion. He should be happy that the English major was trying to communicate again, but-

Axel jabbed him in the side, and Demyx snapped out of his melancholy observations to find his friend's face hovering too close to his own.

"Now, as for your costume, dear Demy-kins…."

Demyx groaned and got another bony finger in his shoulder for his troubles.

"Don't start that. I was thinking pop-slut (4)," Axel drawled, eyes glittering.

"No."

A pout. "Fine then. One fourth of a Barber-shop quartet?"

Demyx raised one eyebrow, a trick he had just managed to learn from Zexion. "Isn't that too close to how I am?"

Shrugging, Axel leaned over and started flipping through the stack of movies the roommates had collected. "Hm. You could be an Alien."

"Not happening. At least, not on my budget."

"Predator?"

"What part of Poor College Student do you not understand?"

Axel was still for a few seconds. Then he tossed a movie case into Demyx's lap just as the door opened. Namine walked in, a soft smile on her face.

"Sorry, I seemed to have missed everyone…."

Sora bounded up and grabbed the blonde girl's hands, smiling like the sun. "No, that's alright, we just found out that we're going to be doing Partner Halloween, so your partner chooses your costume that's completely opposite of what you're actually like, and oh no…." His eyes widened, and Sora's face became the vision of misery, "You don't have a partner…."

Patting his hands gently, Namine soothed him, "Don't worry, I'll just bring your brother. You've been complaining that he doesn't socialize more."

For some reason, that made Sora look over at Axel with a worried expression before glancing back to the artist. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean…" and the brunet pointed his thumb not-so-subtly at Axel. "You know…."

"I'm sure it will be fine, Sora. Worst comes to worst, he can't kill anyone with so many witnesses around. You know he's phobic about being caught doing something."

Looking at Axel's bemused face, Demyx thought, _Somehow, Namine, that's not actually all that reassuring…._

Sora, though, thought it was the best idea in the world. And Demyx sighed, looked down at the movie case in his lap, and his eyes widened.

"Axel, I think I love you."

* * *

Zexion pulled irritably at his costume. Why did Sora have to think that this was a good idea?

More than that, why did he have to think it was a good idea?

He carefully readjusted the pants. Even if the colors were hideous, he would at least make sure they were in the right place. Looking distastefully at the pink and purple stripes once more, he finally stepped out of the bathroom, eyes turned away from the others in the room until he could stand to face them. There was silence.

Then Axel laughed, giving Sora a high-five. "Awesome! Zexion as the Cheshire Cat! It's perfect!"

Zexion glared at him.

Sora wagged a finger at him and chided, "Now now, Zexion, you're supposed to smile, remember?"

He smiled slowly, pulling his lips back and lowering his eye lids to make one of the most disturbing smiles he could.

Judging from the horrified look on everyone else in the room, it worked.

Axel shuddered and rubbed his arms as if he could wipe a slimy film off of his skin. "My god, don't ever do that again. That was just…terrifying…."

_Good. _Zexion thought viciously. _Maybe now you won't ask me to do it again._

"So, who else are we waiting on?" Demyx asked as he slid by Zexion to get to the bathroom.

Sora pouted and tapped his lower lip with his finger. "Well, I'm already dressed," he gestured down to himself, in scrubs and a white lab coat. Zexion smiled to himself. Sora as a doctor was a frightening thought, and it was not something anyone actually wanted to see in real life. The brunet continued, "Demyx is getting dressed, and Axel is sitting right there. So, Luxord, Marluxia, Tidus, and Larxene are going to meet us at IHOP, and Namine and my brother are coming here first."

Cocking his head curiously, Axel dragged Sora closer to him. "Who is this mysterious brother, anyway? We've never heard you talk about him before."

Sora shrugged out of Axel's arms, but remained close, smiling up at him as he explained, "Well, he's a bit…anti-social. He's a bit hard to get along with at first, and he's more than a little upset that his three friends didn't come here with him. I mean, they're still close, but he _really _misses them. And he likes making good grades too much to really leave the room." The brunet sighed, "It's a good day when I can get him out of the room for lunch or dinner (5)."

"What's his name?"

"Roxas."

Axel hummed for a moment, as if he were letting the name roll around in his mind. "Rrroxas…," he drew out the 'r', almost purring the name. "Sexy, I like it!"

A sputter came from the bathroom. "Axel! Seriously? You don't even know him!"

"Aw, but you never protested when I hit on you!" Axel laughed and suddenly his voice turned sensuous, dark, and purring in a way that made Zexion's hackles rise. "Demy, are you _jealous_?"

_He may not be, but I am!_

Zexion blinked. He…was jealous? Of Axel…hitting on Demyx….

_Oh, that's just wonderful._

Demyx opened the door and turned on Axel, tapping his foot delicately. "I am not. But I thought you might be a little more discriminating."

Sora's jaw dropped. A second later, he was beaming and hive-fiveing Axel. "Nice! Demyx as Jareth!"

Zexion eyed the furiously blushing blond as Sora and Axel heckled him for wearing tights, trailing his eyes up grey-clad legs. He had to admit, the outfit did justice to Demyx's frame. The fact that it was nearly skin-tight might have had something to do with that. And he barely had to do anything with his hair.

Shaking his flowing sleeves irritably, Demyx scowled at Axel, and said in a haughty tone, "Go on, get in there. I want to see everyone's faces when you get out!"

In a mocking manner, Axel bowed to him as he went by, murmuring, "Yes, Goblin King," and ignoring the casual slap the musician delivered to his shoulder. The redhead disappeared into the bathroom. There were the soft sounds of clothing being pulled off and on, and in barely any time, Axel stepped back out (6).

Though, if Zexion hadn't seen him enter, he almost wouldn't have recognized him.

The normally spiky red hair had been slicked back into a ponytail, and the tall redhead stood there like a model, adjusting the cuffs of a full suit. Gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and Axel grinned his leonine smirk at them. The effect was almost ruined by the black teardrop tattoo under his left eye.

Demyx grinned. "I present to you, Axel, respectable businessman."

The whole room started laughing, and even Zexion found a smile tugging at his lips.

Not two seconds later, the door opened.

Namine, covered in blood and clad only in a simple white dress with a butcher knife in hand, sidled into the room, a gentle smile on her face. "Hey guys," she said softly, before giggling at the grins on their faces. Wandering into the middle of the room, she turned in a circle. "Roxas picked out a good costume, didn't he?"

Sora nodded enthusiastically, as he did most everything. "So, where is he anyway?"

"Geez, I'm right back here and you don't even notice? Some brother," a voice teased from behind Demyx. As the boy stepped into the light -did all of Sora's family seem that young_?- _Sora's jaw dropped.

A short blond stood there, arms crossed, and obviously uncomfortable in his costume, but his blue eyes held the glimmers of a smile. Though any person in their right mind would be uncomfortable in what Roxas was wearing. Zexion raised an eyebrow as he viewed the leather-bound blond. Those pants were a miracle of gravity. Either that or they had been painted on, which the pale man would not put past Namine. And was that…?

A whip?

Axel purred from behind them and sauntered forward, circling the blond. "Oh, somebody has been a bad, bad boy…(7)" he murmured in a sultry tone, eyes trailing all over Roxas's body, and he predatorily licked his lips.

Roxas cracked the whip in his face. "Back off, creep. I don't even know you."

"Namine!" Sora hissed, tugging on the girl's arm, "What were you thinking? I could've sworn you were smarter than this!"

The artist only smiled at him and pointed at Axel, who was sneaking grazing touches whenever he could, and Roxas, who was not above hitting Axel to get him away. "Just look."

Sora did, Zexion noticed, and apparently he saw something that made him laugh.

"C'mon, guys! Let's go to IHOP!" Sora bounded eagerly into the midst of the semi-battle going on between Axel and Roxas, separating them without even trying.

"I'm not riding with him."

"Aw, but _Blondie…._ I wanted you to ride on my lap…."

"Weren't you supposed to be respectable?"

* * *

Demyx groaned, leaning back in his seat and feeling the vinyl of the booth creak. "Oh, so good… IHOP pancakes are the best…."

Snorting, Marluxia idly spooned out a bit more of his sundae as he shook his head, ponytails flying. "I still can't believe that I agreed to wear this." He gestured at himself, wearing a schoolgirl's outfit, legs crossed moodily. "It's too cold outside for this."

Luxord murmured, "Be glad I let you have stockings. It could have been much worse."

From around his French fries, Sora piped up, "So, why is Luxord a gangster?"

Marluxia wagged his finger. "No, no. He's a rapper, not a gangster. A poor, poser rapper. He's too much like actual mobsters for it to work with the theme."

"Why not a pirate?"

"Because I would have _killed _him, and I told him so." Luxord answered smoothly, stroking his goatee and 'bling'.

Demyx snuck a glance at Zexion, sitting next to him. The lilac-haired man actually seemed to be having a good time, if his sideways glances at the rest of the table and almost-smiles were to be believed. And his costume! It was hard for Demyx to not pet him and see if he would arch like a cat. But then, Demyx was good at resisting the impulse to touch Zexion.

Sometimes, he wished he would just give in.

Across the table, Larxene snarled and swatted at Tidus again. "I cannot _believe_ I let you put me in this!" She tried to rearrange her skirts, scowling when she realized that it would be uncomfortable no matter which way she moved.

Tidus sighed, touching his dyed hair, now black instead of its usual sun-bleached blonde, gingerly, "I can't believe you agreed to it. I mean, really? A southern belle? The only other one that comes close to that level of irony is Axel as a respectable gentleman." He tugged on his sweater vest and readjusted the thick black glasses.

"You know, with all the fidgeting," Axel drawled, speaking to Tidus, even though his eyes were on Roxas the entire time, "you almost fit the bill for the captain of the chess team. And is it really that hard for you all to think of me as respectable?"

"Yes," Demyx shot back immediately, speaking for both himself and Zexion, who had raised an eyebrow as if to say _'Really, you have to ask that?'_

The rest of the table murmured some sort of assent.

Roxas snorted, which was answer in itself.

Axel clutched at his heart, flinging out the other arm as if he were a bad Shakespearean dramatist. "Oh, my bleeding heart! See how my friends have deserted me!" He sat up straight again, dropping his outstretched arm around Sora's shoulders casually. Roxas pushed it off of his brother a second later, and the redhead leaned around the brunette, grinning in a manner that Demyx thought was supposed to be reserved for the bedroom. "Aw, jealous, Roxy?"

"No, I just don't want you infecting my brother with your stupid, and _stop calling me that!_"

"Mmmmm, no, Roxy, I don't think so…" He rested his head on folded hands.

The blonde boy sighed irritably, "Can we please pay the bill and leave so I can go home?"

Namine gently touched his hand. "You mean you don't want to go trick-or-treating with us? It'll be fun…" she wheedled.

Blinking, Roxas looked around the table. "Seriously, you're going trick-or-treating? But we're college students!"

Everyone at the table stared at him, sans Zexion, who calmly sipped his iced tea.

"So…?" Demyx spread his hands, leaning back against the booth, "It'll be fun. And besides, free candy!"

"You're college students."

Axel raised his hand. "I'm not."

"Shut up, you don't count." Roxas swatted at him again.

"Aw, Roxy, I'm hurt…."

"College students," the short blonde said over Axel's complaints, "And you're still going trick-or-treating. Does that sound wrong to anyone else?" He turned to his brother. "Surely, you don't think this is a good idea."

Sora stared back at him, blue eyes wide. "But, Roxas. _Candy."_ He said it like it was the most important thing in the world.

Grinning, Demyx nudged Zexion's shoulder, reveling in the small contact he was allowed. Leaning over to murmur in his roommate's ear, "I think Roxas is coming with us. Sora's whipped out the begging eyes."

Zexion looked at him, eyes glimmering in secreted joy. Their noses brushed, and Demyx caught his breath, shifting backwards just to resist the impulse to move in the opposite direction. Still, he hovered in the space that wasn't quite outside of the "more than just friends" range. The pale man blinked slowly, and a faint pink tinge swept over his face. Demyx was sure he wasn't imagining it this time. The flush made his eyes more vibrantly blue, and Zexion quickly turned his gaze to the rest of the table, though Demyx could still see his red ears.

The musician sat and blinked, only moving when the rest of the group finally stood up and filed out to pay for dinner. Zexion had blushed, and was still slightly red, even now. It was adorable, but…

_But why is he blushing_?

* * *

"Honestly, I think the best part was when Sora started asking people if they had seen his watch after telling them he was a heart surgeon (8)." Demyx unlocked the door to their room with one hand, the other holding an almost full bag of candy.

Axel laughed, swinging his bag idly, "Either that or when the guy answered the door to say that no one was home (9). That was hilarious."

Slinking into the dark room, Zexion immediately pulled off the cat ears Sora had made him wear and scratched furiously at his itching scalp, sighing in pleasure as his discomfort was relieved. He tilted his head to the side, moving his scratching fingers and letting out soft breaths as they soothed the irritation. Once he was done, his entire skull tingling in remembered relief, he opened his eyes.

And found both Axel and Demyx staring at him.

Zexion flushed, but did his best to keep it from his face. Turning around, he stalked, stiff-legged, to his dresser and whipped out his pajamas. He didn't want to hear Axel's mocking voice right now. He just wanted to get into bed and get rid of the headache that was beginning to form. As he was about to enter the bathroom, though, a warm hand caught his wrist.

The scent of saltwater and skin flooded him as Demyx hugged him from behind, wrapping tan arms around his waist and shoulders. Zexion stiffened. He felt the blonde's head drop down to rest on the junction between his shoulder and neck. Unable to relax –why was he touching him, this made no sense, why was he so warm?-, Zexion just stood there, hung in an uncertain limbo.

"Thank you."

The pale man jerked a little at the feel of breath on his neck.

"Really, I was so glad that you came along and had a good time." The hands on him moved, sliding against his body and Zexion let out a breath that would have been a small moan. The skin Demyx touched flinched in hesitant motions, unsure whether he wanted to press closer to the hands and body behind him, or move away and escape the blood-rushing fear he was feeling.

Demyx let him go.

Zexion stood there for a couple of seconds, trying to regain control of his body.

He entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him, pressing his face to the cool wood. What was wrong with him? Surely just a simple touch like that shouldn't make him so frightened.

Only, he wasn't so sure it was entirely fear he was feeling.

Zexion was only sure that it felt nothing like how any book described (10).

* * *

Demyx turned away to face his bed, shivering slightly.

He shouldn't have done that.

Why had his self-control failed him? Yes, Zexion had looked so irresistible as he arched his neck, shifting his body in obvious pleasure, but it shouldn't have been enough to make his lose his resolve.

He really should have just stayed away from touching Zexion.

But, _God_, holding him had felt so good...

"Hey, kid. You alright?"

Demyx nodded silently. From the way Axel snorted, he didn't buy the lie.

"No, seriously, are you okay?"

"I…shouldn't have held him, Ax. I really shouldn't have. He's too…" Demyx let out a hoarse laugh. "I hadn't realized that I would still want to touch him so badly."

Axel tapped his shoulder, and Demyx turned, unthinkingly burying his face in his friend's bony shoulder, clutching him tightly. Lean fingers rubbed his neck and back. For several long moments, Axel just held him, understanding that Demyx needed someone warm to touch.

Finally Demyx pulled back, rubbing his face harshly. "I'm better now. It's just…it's been a long night, and I'm tired."

Axel raised one thin eyebrow, but he didn't say anything about it, instead patting his back comfortingly. "Go to bed, kid. It'll be better in the morning."

Demyx nodded, didn't meet Zexion's eyes when the pale man reentered the main room. He got dressed for bed in silence, thoughts dull and pained.

As he laid in the darkness, though, hovering on the edge of sleep, he knew that it wouldn't really be any better in the morning.

Only easier to hide.

* * *

Or so he thinks…..

*dramatic music cue* Dun Dun Duuuun!

- (1) – If anyone can tell me what the reference is, I will love you forever!

- (2) – That one's for you, Pixie. I love you, and you know it.

- (3) – Yes, I do realize that Axel in the game has _two_ tattoos. There's a reason for it, and it'll come up in the next chapter, so don't hound my ass about it, alright?

- (4) – For the technical definition, see Amane Misa. That's a really good example.

- (5) – Sad thing is, this is kind of how I am in college right now. The only reason I leave for food is because I am lacking microwavable dinner items.

- (6) – Axel, Master of Getting Into and Out Of Clothes Quickly.

- (7) – For a first-sentence impression, Axel is not getting off to a good start.

- (8) – This would frighten me.

- (9) – And this actually happened.

- (10) – Oh Zexion. It's never like the books.

**Beta'd by: **The sparkling pinnacle of loveliness and imagination! **Evil-Pixie-Dust**, the world's most patient beta.

**Next Chapter:** Axel schemes, Zexion becomes frustrated, and Demyx speaks. Oh, and did I mention that Roxas gets a little jealous?

Wonderful, lovely people who are reading this! I love you all, even if you don't review, but the reviews make my day! Read: Please Review, and I will love you forever!

So, out of curiosity, and in a weird sort of polling way, does anyone want to see the Zemyx fic I have in the stages of being written? If you don't care, that's fine, but I'm just curious.


	6. Hörst du mich?

**Disclaimers:** Would it be too cliché if I just said I DON'T OWN IT? No? Didn't think so.

**Author's Note:** OH MY GOD. Remind me to never have a single scene planned out so well ever again. It makes writing the chapter framework around it so hard! Seriously, the scene in here with Demyx and Zexion (I promise you, you'll know which one) I had all planned out in my head. Then I realized I couldn't come up with a good way to get them there. So I had to write it all out of order. *sighs raggedly* It came out alright, but still, I wish it had been a bit more cooperative. That being said, I still love it!

**Dedications:** Mah lurvely Beta of rock-awesomeness, **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. I love you to pieces, kid. **Dualism**, because she makes me happy on the inside. She's such an amazing author! And **Sarehptar**, because the world would seem a little colder without _The Violet Room_.

**SHAMELESS PLUG OF PLUGGING: **_There Will Be Two Seats_ – by **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. It's a Kaibacest fic, so it's not for everyone, but this fic seriously swayed me to its fandom. Before I was a quite solid…oh man, what's it called, Puppyshipping? SetoJou. I was a big fan of that, and then Pixie wrote this story. And I was sold. . It's not done yet, and it's going to be long, involved, drawn out, and will only have angst at appropriate moments instead of the "cut-my-wrists-every-couple-of-seconds, excuse me while I go out of character" that I've heard most of Tabloidshipping/Locketshipping is.

**Reviews:**

So far, there haven't been any anonymous reviews, so I don't really need to do this, but I felt the need to bring two reviews to attention, because their reviews made my days.

First: **EppieandKarma. **The part of the review beyond the typical went like this:

"Also, Axel totally doesn't have any fashion sense. It's a good thing Xemmy sticks him in a uniform or else there would be a firey agent of eevil wearing clashing plaids and Digimon goggles."

Holy COW, you have no idea how hard I laughed when I read the last couple of words. I fell off my chair, I was laughing so hard. Because I've recently been watching (read: obsessing and marathon-ing twenty episodes per day) pretty much all of the first two seasons of Digimon. . And I'm going to be doing Daisuke (Davis) cosplay and **Evil-Pixie-Dust** is going to be Ken. This made my DAY. SO MUCH.

Second: **MuffinPirate.** Review went like this:

"DAVID BOWIE= SEXY GOD FULL OF WIN  
DAVID BOWIE= JARETH= LABRYNTH  
LABRYNTH= ONE HUGE ACID TRIP FOCUSED AROUND JARETH'S PANTS= WIN  
DEMYX= JARETH= DAVID BOWIE  
DEMYX~ DAVID BOWIE~ JARETH  
DEMYX= WIN"

And anytime someone does a proof in a review, they are my day-makers. This was seriously, just epic awesome in awesome form. Not even liquid, it's bypassed that straight to unadulterated awesome. Kudos to you!

It was a sexual-tension-charged day at college….*curtain raises*

* * *

Sighing, Zexion stared sightlessly at the book in his hands.

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Halloween, and things weren't showing any sign of getting easier.

After that night, Demyx had apparently decided that the best course of action was to avoid him at all costs. And Zexion didn't really see a need to stop him. He was confused about his own reactions to that night. Even now he shivered, not sure if the shiver was of fear or a strange sort of excitement. But neither of them really tried to talk to each other. Demyx no longer acted as the unspoken translator for Zexion, and the pale man didn't try to make himself understood by anyone else.

This, of course, led to unexplained tension between the two of them that rubbed off on everyone else.

And now the room was simply oppressive, even when Demyx wasn't in there.

Which was why Zexion was outside their room, sitting on the floor in the miniature study lounge (1). His back was pressed to the side of a couch and he had tucked himself against the wall to stare out the window. A yawn passed his lips. He was so tired.

Understandably so, since he couldn't lie down and try to sleep without thinking of what it would feel like if Demyx touched him again. He hadn't slept easily since that night. Even now the thoughts were creeping into his head. Would that tingling warmth pass over his entire body in the path of Demyx's hands? How would it feel if those hands weren't just on his abdomen, but everywhere else? Would he still be petrified by the simplest of touches?

He didn't know.

The fact that he was even thinking about it frightened him a little. He was almost…yearning for it to happen again.

He didn't want to think about it.

All it did was drive Demyx away from him. (2)

Zexion closed his eyes briefly, a long harsh breath escaping his lungs. He didn't want to think about it anymore. That's why he had the book.

The sunlight was so warm…perhaps he would just sit here for …just a bit…and read…some…more….

* * *

Demyx raised an eyebrow as he opened up the door to the second floor. Right in front of his dorm room, in the small sitting area that was there, was Axel and the others.

"Uh, guys? Did Axel lock his key in there, or did Zexion just kick you all out?"

The redhead looked at him with a smile, stopping his attempt to cajole Roxas out of one of the chairs. "Hey, there you are! And no, I have my key and the ice princess hasn't done anything just yet." He glanced over towards the window. "Well. Sort of."

Demyx let out a ragged sigh, rubbing his cheek with one hand. He didn't feel like playing Axel's guessing games. "I'm…really not in a good mood right now, Axel. Just come out and say it already."

Blinking at him in surprise –Demyx felt a flash of irritation, wasn't he _allowed_ to have bad days every once in a while?-, Axel motioned him over quickly, pointing to the far side of the chair closest to the window. "You need to see this. But be quiet…" he said as the blonde rolled his eyes and leaned around the chair to see what the vagabond was talking about.

And Demyx caught his breath.

Zexion was sleeping.

Zexion was sleeping, leaning against the chair and the wall, legs curled up against his body.

Zexion was sleeping, a book held in limp hands and resting against his chest. A beam of sunlight fell on him, setting his pale skin aglow, making him seem somehow innocent and Demyx felt a strange singing sensation in his chest. He pressed a hand to it unconsciously. It felt like if he _didn't_ try and protect that peaceful scene, something might break.

His heart, perhaps?

As the musician stared, he slowly came back to himself, suddenly and awkwardly aware that the tiny lounge was silent.

"…we didn't want to wake him up, but we didn't think he should have been left alone out here. So yeah, we came and sat out here with him." Sora explained, blinking curiously at Demyx, probably trying to understand the expression on his face. "Did we do the right thing?"

Demyx let out a shaky sigh and nodded, "Yeah. You did. He…hasn't been sleeping well." _If barely sleeping counts as 'not well', anyway…._

"So, we were thinking. You should take him back inside. He trusts you, after all, and sleeping in his own bed has to be better than sitting out here." Axel raised a slender eyebrow at him, nodding towards Zexion. "I'll open the door for you so you can bring him in, alright?"

Gathering the warm, slender body in his arms, Demyx nodded. He carefully maneuvered into his room, flushing deeply when Zexion murmured slightly in his sleep and shifted to press his face against Demyx's chest.

* * *

Demyx exited the room after a couple of moments, making sure the door closed softly behind him. Turning to the rest of the group, he gave them a strained smile. "He's asleep."

Axel only raised an eyebrow at him. "Demyx. What are you doing?"

"Um, coming out here to let Zexion sleep?" The blonde blinked, confused, and Axel had to restrain an amused sigh.

"Hey, kid (3), just to bring this to your attention. We're all out here."

Demyx nodded, obviously not seeing where this was going.

"And Zexion's in there."

Another nod.

"Asleep."

Demyx cocked his head to the side. "Yes, I kinda figured that one out."

"Which means that he-" Axel made sure to emphasize his next words, "-_can't hear you._ And everyone else is _outside_. Which means, _we can't hear you either._" He watched Demyx just so he could see the moment comprehension hit. And it hit in a very unexpected way.

The musician's blue eyes widened, and Axel found himself with armfuls of enthusiastic blonde. Lips, slightly chapped from the cold wind outside, pressed against his and Axel blinked, startled.

"Axel, you have _no_ idea how much I love you right now," Demyx said fiercely, lithe body still leaning against his. He kissed the recovering redhead once more before stepping back and slipping into the darkened room with a smile Axel hadn't seen for a few weeks on his face. Axel touched his lips with a faint grin before rubbing at his tattoo, which had begun to ache lightly with a phantom pain.

"What. Was that?"

The lean man glanced down at Roxas, who was almost glaring at him (4). He answered, in the most infuriating way he could, "That, I believe, was Demyx Trepe. My roommate and friend. Why?"

Shaking his head, the short blonde stood, crossing his arms and glaring at Axel with ice in his gaze. "I _know_ that," he hissed, "I was talking about the kiss. You're still in love with him." It wasn't a question.

"If you can count loving him as a friend as 'in love', then yes."

Roxas almost growled. Under other circumstances, Axel would have found it funny, but Demyx and Zexion's respective bad moods had been affecting him and all he felt was irritation. Obviously the slight blonde picked up on that and backed off, instead picking a different topic.

"What is that," Roxas jabbed a finger towards his tattoo, "anyway? It means something to you, doesn't it?" He flushed, obviously realizing how that sounded, and muttered, "Not…that I've noticed or anything, but it looks like it hurts sometimes. You rub it a lot."

Axel blinked at him for a second before a lazy smile traced his lips. "Oh, it means something alright, Roxy. It's a reminder."

The others were silent, watching the confrontation between him and Roxas with worried, in the case of Sora, or amused, in the case of everyone else, eyes.

"A reminder of what?"

"I'm a wanderer, as I'm sure you've noticed, Blondie. I've been to hundreds of places, and I've left them all. This," he traced the tattoo with a gentle finger, "is a reminder of the only place I knew I would regret leaving before I actually left. I decided to brand it into my skin as a constant reminder, and I made a promise to myself that I would give myself only ten times to leave somewhere and regret it before I left. So, if I do, there are spots for other tattoos beneath my other eye, the insides of my wrists and ankles, and the outsides of my wrists and ankles. If I leave ten places that I _know_ I'll regret leaving, then I need to rethink my life plans."

Roxas was silent for a brief, blessed second. "You got that when you left the place where you met Demyx." The small twin seemed to have a talent for making questions into statements.

Axel shook his head, red hair whispering around his shoulders. "No, I got it before I left _Demyx_. I only regretted leaving because I did love him, as much as a sixteen-year-old could love someone."

"If…if you left tomorrow, would you get another one?"

"…" The question honestly startled Axel. It seemed important to the small blonde, somehow, in a way that question really shouldn't be. "I…don't know. I'm not in love with Demyx anymore, and while Zexion's fun to tease and I like him a lot, I'm not sure there's anyone I couldn't live without here." The lanky man smiled curiously at Roxas, "This is the longest I've stayed anywhere, though, and I don't feel the need to leave any time soon, so we'll see."

"So you might not-"

He cut the blonde off curtly, "Don't say it. Not until I do first." It was bad luck to say he might not leave a place. It made him feel trapped. Made him want to leave.

Something fragile yet determined entered Roxas's blue eyes. "I think you'll have to get one, if you leave," he said softly, staring hard at Axel as if he was trying to brand the words into his mind.

Axel's eyes widened. A lump of warmth entered his chest, settling gently into place as if it had always been there, and he smiled slightly. "…I might."

"No, you will."

* * *

Demyx didn't turn to face the inside of the room at first, taking a huge amount of care to make sure the door closed quietly. He took a couple of breaths to steady himself, unsure of why his heart was pounding so much, and finally looked over at the sleeping form on the bed.

Curled on his side facing the wall, Zexion was breathing lightly and his eyelashes fluttered on pale cheeks. The blonde smiled gently at that and felt the anxiety he had been carrying bleed away. Stepping closer to the bed, he grabbed a chair and sat on it, looking at Zexion's back.

"So, yeah. It's been a while since this has happened, hasn't it?" Demyx asked quietly, his voice soft and calm. "I…I really miss talking to you like this. Part of it is my fault, since I've been avoiding you recently, and boy," he laughed slightly, careful to not be too loud, "that didn't work out as planned."

Demyx was silent for a few minutes, content to just watch Zexion sleep. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Did you know, Zexion? The air is starting to smell like ice and food. That's how I can always tell that it's getting close to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even our room smells like cinnamon buns (5). It's nice, truly, it is. I always love Christmas. The lights and everything... it just feels nicer around that time. Like the world itself is getting ready for a celebration. Otherwise there's no reason for the air to smell different.

"The wind is getting stronger. It's really fun to walk outside with it like that, blowing against you so hard you can feel it like it was a person. Feels like those rides in amusement parks, the ones that spin you around? Everything you know is upside down, and gravity changes direction. It's really exhilarating. Makes me wish I could fly, to feel the wind like that all the time. It's like fast-driven rock music, you know? All backbeat and energy that just carries you up and makes you want to run for the simple joy of movement.

"Hey, Zexion, interesting thing. My mom wants me to come home for Christmas. I suppose that's not too strange, but I'm wondering where you're going to go. Are you going back home? If you aren't…I'm going to see if Mama will let you come back with me," the blonde murmured softly. "There are some things at home that I want to show you.

"Like the night sky. Have you ever really seen the stars, Zexion? There's a place, maybe an hour or so away from my house where you can see everything in the sky. If you go before the moon rises, you can even see the Milky Way and all the stars. Though I'm sure you can name more constellations than I can," he laughed.

Another silence fell, Demyx crossing his elbows on the bed.

He took a deep breath. "If….If you could come home with me, would you? I'll probably have to ask again, but still, I wanted to ask you now. I would show you the cliff that you can see both halves of the town on. It's a great place to see the setting sun. That's the place where I went to try and catch it, the light that is. It means a lot to me. Oh, and the coffee shop. They have huge jars of tea there. I'm sure you'd like it."

Demyx wasn't sure how to broach the next subject, but even if he was the only one who heard it, he knew it had to be said.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I was avoiding you. It's just…Zexion, you're so…" the musician bit his lip, trying to come up with the right words. "I couldn't help myself on Halloween, and I can tell that it freaked you out. After all, you….don't really know how I feel about you, and I have to remember that no matter how much I tell you while we're in here, you're never able to hear me.

"That…I don't know if that makes it easier or harder for me, you not knowing. Because…Because I love you, Zexion. It's not just 'like' or some sort of high school crush, I think I really love you." The blonde was gasping softly, rubbing his cheeks to rid them of the tears that had begun to flow. "And there are times where I can't stand being too far away from you, and I just want to cuddle up to you, hold you, be held by you, and I know that can't happen, because I don't know if you like me back."

He bowed his head over the mattress, pressing his face into the warm sheets, trying to still the flow of tears. Why was he crying? It didn't make any sense.

"I…I love you so much, Zexion," his voice broke, "I love you so much it hurts. I think…The last thing I want is for you to hate me. There's not…I can't ever tell you because I'm too scared. I'm a big coward when it comes to this. I never told Axel I loved him until he made the first move, but I know you're not going to, because you probably don't like me like that. If there's…even the slightest chance, though…please, Zexion, give me that chance…I want to know you.

"I wonder what your voice sounds like, you know. I'm sure that it fits you, but what will it sound like after you haven't spoken for so long? Will it be hoarser than it normally is? Softer?" He lifted his head and reached out to brush Zexion's hair gently with his fingertips, his smile shaking a little bit. "You know, your hair is really soft. I've wanted to touch it since I met you. God, I'm such a mess sometimes. I…I love you, Zexion."

Those three powerful words were getting easier to say, and Demyx felt the weight on his chest lifting every time he said them. He repeated them over and over again, fingers softly combing Zexion's hair, and every time he felt a bit better, knowing that he had finally said it.

Finally, the room drifted into silence, Demyx still petting Zexion. He stood, regretfully letting his fingers leave Zexion.

"I'm going to let you actually sleep now, without me jabbering at you." The blonde smiled, and he knew it wasn't as strained as it had been for the last couple of weeks. "Sleep well, Zexion. I love you."

And he left the room.

He never noticed the glint of cobalt blue eyes, wide and staring at the wall. (6)

* * *

Axel looked up as Demyx came in. He took in the sight of the blonde, who was smiling as though the sun were coming up even though there were tear tracks down his face, and opened his arms.

Something in Demyx's eyes broke and he ran forward, curling himself into Axel's arms. The redhead held him (7), murmured nonsense words, and stroked his back as the blonde sobbed quietly. There was nothing of heartbreak in the sound of the tears, just the sound of release. Smiling softly, Axel soothed Demyx. He knew that the weight the musician had been carrying was too much to bear.

"Feel better now?"

Demyx sniffled but nodded, stepping out of Axel's hold to rub at his eyes. "Mmm, but I've been crying too much. Now I have a headache."

Axel laughed quietly. "Yeah, I can imagine. You weren't in there as long as I thought you would be. Got everything said that needed to be said?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

The door to the room opened, and Zexion stepped out, looking slightly shell-shocked. His eyes snapped to Demyx, taking in his red and tear-stained face, and after a few moments of careful consideration, he went back inside.

Demyx sighed. "Great. He's still avoiding me."

"I'm not so sure, kid. Just wait." Axel leaned against the nearest wall.

A few seconds later, Zexion exited again, a glass of water in his hand. He stepped cautiously up to Demyx and offered it to him, as well as two white pills. Demyx smiled at him and took them, cradling the cup of water against his chest.

"Thanks, Zexy. I needed that."

Zexion shrugged with one shoulder and carefully reached up, brushing off some remaining tears.

The blonde musician blinked and blushed, shaking his head a little. "Oh, don't worry about it. By the way, Zexy, I'm sorry for how I've-" He was cut off by a pale finger on his lips.

Even from where he was standing, Axel could tell that Zexion was shaking a little, but the lilac-haired man only shook his head and tilted it to the side, shrugging with a slight smile.

"Are you sure?" Demyx asked, and yet again Axel had to wonder at the ease of their communication.

A nod.

Demyx smiled again. "Well, come on, then. It's lunchtime and I'm hungry."

Zexion nodded, letting his hand drop from Demyx's face before turning to Axel with an expression of distaste on his face. Stepping closer to the redhead, he snapped his fingers and gestured him closer.

Axel leaned back, grinning just to infuriate the smaller man.

Rolling his eyes, Zexion reached up and grabbed Axel, pulling him down to mouth something against his ear. As quickly as it happened, Axel was released, and the pale man was disappearing down the steps. He looked quizzically at Demyx, who only shrugged and followed Zexion.

Tapping his foot, Roxas stared at him. "What'd he say?"

Axel smiled at the blonde. "Oh, nothing much, Roxy. Nothing much at all." And he wrapped an arm around Roxas, noting that he didn't push it off as quickly as he had before. The words Zexion had 'said' to him, though, revolved in his brain, and the redhead smiled again. Things were looking up.

_"…Thank you…."_

* * *

And there you have the first love confession. How will Zexion respond, you ask?

Well, you're going to have to keep reading, aren't you?

- (1) – This is actually based off my own room. It's just a little sitting area outside the door to the stairs, and my room is right in front of it. It's a cozy little place, though not ideal for studying.

- (2) – Ah, the real reason why he doesn't want it….Poor confused Zexion….

- (3) – To Axel, everyone is a kid. Whether they are older than him, younger than him, same age, it doesn't matter.

- (4) – Does anyone else think that the idea of Jealous!Roxas is a good one? There are too many situations where Axel loves Roxas way before Roxas loves him back that I think it needed to be shaken up a little.

- (5) – It's true. One day, our room randomly started smelling like cinnamon buns, and none of us could explain it. It was pretty awesome, and we're not complaining.

- (6) – Dun dun dun….. .

- (7) – Axel, Demyx's teddy bear.

**Beta'd by: Evil-Pixie-Dust**, one of the only two writers I know who can write angst and I can still read it. I'm a happy-endings sort of person. She can make me not be, and I'll still enjoy it!

**Next Chapter: **Winter Break hits, Zexion gets reminded of something, Demyx gets a look into Zexion's past, and stars are seen.

Man, I love you guys! No, seriously, everyone who reads this makes me so happy, because I just like knowing that you like it! So, just so I know how _much_ you like it, review for me? *gives big pleading, Sora and Demyx puppy dog eyes* Pretty please?

And the fic I mentioned last time is in progress. It's going slowly, because I have to tackle two things I don't do well at the same time. Curse you First-Person POV and present tense! Curse you!

Here's a bit of interesting facts, as brought to you by me, for those of you who actually read this far down. This chapter and chapter five (Alice) have something in common. Can you guess what it is?


	7. You Who Are Faintly Wounded

**Disclaimers: **I just got KH 358/2 Days for my birthday. I am now in the process of playing and restraining my squeals of delight every time Demyx or Zexion walks onto screen. If I owned it, Roxas would find them making out in the library or one of the corridors at least once.

**Author's Notes**: This is not… not good…. I'm so so so so soooo sorry that this took so long to get out! I suck so hard, I know! *bows* It just…didn't flow. Until January. Seriously, as I'm writing this, I have a massive headache, but the dance music in my ears is keeping me going, and I'm in the grip of titanic (now there's a word I need to use more often) inspiration.

**Dedications:** To my lovely beta/cosplay partner, **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. And to **Dualism**, whose stories always make me laugh and feel happy on the inside. **Sarehptar**, because even though it took a while for me to read _The Violet Room_, once I did, I was hooked. Worse than an addiction, I'm telling you. And my newest friend, **Besieged-Infection**! Thank you so much for going and reviewing every chapter of this (and I seriously promise I'll get to read all your stories, but I'm saving them for when I'm back at college and should be working on homework!), and I hope I get to dork out with you over _The Violet Room_ even more!

**Never before has a plug been as Shameless as This: **_Mnemonic. _Yeah, that's right, I'm pimping my own fic. Just thought that everyone ought to know that the first chapter (it'll be a three-shot for sure now) is up, and the second chapter is about halfway done. The story is told journal style, from Zexion's Point of View, and I'm actually quite proud of it.

Just so you know, _Silence Is Golden_ is first on my update priority, unless something happens that makes me _need_ to work on _Mnemonic_.

*sighs*

**Reviews:**

I'M SO SORRY, BUT I PROMISE I'LL REPLY TO EVERYONE'S REVIEWS EVENTUALLY, I'M JUST TRYING TO SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS BEFORE I HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL! *grovels*

So, fact about Chapters Five and Six (Alice and Hörst du mich). They both are the first chapters where serious stuff starts happening between the respective couples!

One other fact, and it's one I didn't actually expect anyone to know (since you would've had to have seen my general outline for this to find out)! Chapters Five and Six actually didn't exist as they are right now! The fic originally jumped straight from the last interlude to Christmas Break, but the idea of having one chapter per month just appealed to me. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way, since this chapter is taking _way too long_ to finish. SUCH A PAIN. Seriously. No chapter should ever be this much work.

Proust!

* * *

Leaning back in his chair, Demyx stretched, pushing his pencil away from him.

Finally.

It was done.

His first semester of college was over.

As he left the classroom, laying his final on the teacher's desk, he smiled and did mental cartwheels. They turned into real ones as soon as he got back inside his dorm building, though the musician stopped after he realized he was getting weird looks from everyone around him. Rubbing his aching wrists gently – maybe cartwheels hadn't been the best idea-, Demyx couldn't stop the grin on his face from growing.

He couldn't help it, really. He was just ...so happy! Today he had his last final; he got to go home in a few days, and more importantly….

Zexion got to come home with him.

Demyx still couldn't believe that he had gotten the pale man to agree to come to his house over winter break. They would be able to spend time together, and Zexion would get to meet his mom (1)…

On second thought, Demyx wasn't so sure that was a good thing… But it would all work out. He laughed sheepishly, and pushed open the door to his room, ready to grab his bags and start packing.

He should have known something was wrong from the first glance.

Zexion and Axel stood on opposite sides of the room, and Axel's chest was heaving as if he had just been in a fight. The air around Zexion almost crackled with anger, and Demyx could see the brittle, molted fury in his eyes and his clenched jaw. Cautiously eyeing them, the blonde sidled into the room, dropping his bag with a _thunk _on the floor.

And then he saw Axel's face.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Demyx hurried over to his friend, almost-but not quite- brushing his fingers against the bandage that covered Axel's right cheek.

The redhead smiled casually, batting his curious hands away with a laugh. "Don't worry about it, Dem. I slipped at work today and got burned, that's all. Boss-man got all upset at me too and sent me to the doctor's to take care of it. See?" and he pushed back his sleeves to reveal a set of angry red burns that glistened slightly from some medication Axel had obviously put on it. "These are a bit better than the one on my face, so I'm allowed to keep them uncovered."

"A-are you sure? They look pretty bad…."

"I went to the doctor's remember?" Axel shrugged. "He just warned me to not let them get infected. No big deal."

Frustrated eyes flared once again in the corner of Demyx's vision, and Zexion hissed softly at Axel, storming towards the door and making sure he bumped none-too-gently into the vagabond on his way out.

Demyx looked after him worriedly. "What's wrong with Zexion?"

"Nothing." But Axel's entire expression was shadowed, and he couldn't quite meet his inquiring aqua eyes. "It's nothing, Dem. You know how we fight sometimes. Don't worry about it."

* * *

The dorms had gotten steadily quieter as the week rolled on, more and more people leaving.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Axel?" Demyx's foot beat a nervous staccato on the rim of his tires.

Axel laughed, leaning against the hood of the car as if he owned it, waving his hand as he said, "No, no. Don't worry; I've got a place to be."

And there it was again, that brittle, frozen water color in Zexion's eyes that Demyx had no name for. During the course of the week, Axel had made veiled references to a place he was going to stay at over the break and every time it came up, the English major had gone stiff and looked furious.

Shrugging uncomfortably as he looked between the two, the blonde nodded, "Suit yourself. Just…keep safe, alright?" At Axel's nod, he slid into the driver's seat and strapped in, noting absently that Zexion slammed his door with a little more force than necessary.

A rap sounded on his window, and Demyx rolled it down. His redhead roommate grinned at him, something lewd lightening his eyes. "You and Zexy have fun at your house now! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Demyx groaned good-naturedly and said goodbye before pulling out of the parking lot, leaving Axel to wave at their retreating car.

"I'm glad you're coming along, Zexy! It'll be a lot more fun with someone to talk to on the way there, even though you can't talk back."

Out of the corner of his eye, the musician could see a slender shoulder rise in a shrug.

"I think you'll like my mom. She's really nice, and really smart, and makes the _best_ cookies ever (2)! And I get to show you the house, and the stars and everything, and we'll have so much fun, we won't want to go back!

"Oh, and I hope you don't mind if I start singing. It's a long drive, and I get bored easily. It's easier for me to pay attention if I'm singing or doing something while driving, but if I get too annoying for you, just hit me and I'll stop, promise!" He glanced over, halting his chatter briefly, to find Zexion watching him with a strange kind of intensity that made Demyx's blood pound through his veins.

The blonde swallowed nervously and turned his gaze back to the snowy road.

It was going to be a long drive.

A few hours later, it was still a long, long drive.

_And getting longer and longer_, the blonde sighed mentally, rubbing his eyes with one wrist before staring hard at the road. Demyx had taken to drumming out the rhythms on his steering wheel to keep himself awake, bopping his head in time with the peppy, loud music.

Zexion had long since fallen into a half-doze, and he sat turned toward the window, deep blue eyes staring blankly at the night.

The darkness made it very hard to see the lines on the highway.

And ice looked just like wet road in the dark.

The car's front wheels hit a slick patch of ice, tearing the steering wheel out of Demyx's hands for a brief moment. As they hydroplaned across the road, Demyx took control again, trying to gently balance out the car's motion before they crashed into something.

It was dizzying. The car didn't respond quickly to his efforts to stop the spinning motion, and it was a terrifying couple of seconds before the blonde was able to finally stop the car, not caring that they were stopped on the highway's shoulder.

Demyx laughed, adrenaline pumping through his body, and really, laughing seemed so much nicer than screaming, which was his only other option. "Man, that was close!" he exclaimed, looking out the window at the skid-marks behind them. His hands shook as he took them off the wheel, and he ran them through his hair, tugging roughly at his bangs, needing the counterpoint of pain to ground him before he spiraled into panic.

Just as he was starting to calm down, he looked over at Zexion.

Zexion, whose body was tense and quivering, whose every breath seemed tortured and too fast and each held a note of panic. Demyx had no doubt that if Zexion could speak, the pale man would be whimpering with each exhale. Eyes tightly shut, his arms were braced tightly on the armrests, his fingers entirely white from the amount of force he was placing on them.

Reaching across the space between them, Demyx placed his own hands over Zexion's, tugging lightly on them. "Hey, hey, come on, let go…"

The pale fingers flexed wildly for a second before slowly, slowly releasing and flipping over to hold Demyx's hands with a crushing grip. Stroking his thumb across taut skin, the musician didn't make another move for a few minutes, waiting for the spasmodic trembling to stop. He hummed a lullaby softly under his breath as he watched his roommate's face intently.

Slowly, cobalt eyes fluttered open. They flickered around the car wildly before settling on Demyx's face, blinking rapidly. Some of the irrational panic seeped out of Zexion's eyes, but he didn't stop staring at Demyx.

It was still some time later before Zexion's breathing had slowed down to a more normal rate, and even longer before Demyx let go of his hands.

"Should-" Demyx's voice cracked slightly and he swallowed. "Should I keep driving now?"

Zexion gave a tight nod, swallowing heavily.

"You're sure?"

Another nod, this one slightly less shaky.

Demyx slowly started the car again, watching Zexion out of the corner of his eye for any sign that he needed to stop the car and pull over.

There was nothing.

Demyx kept driving, fixing his eyes back on the road, though his mind now had a new problem to occupy his time.

It wasn't a normal reaction to an almost crash. Sure, the whole thing had been frightening, but it hadn't really been close enough to warrant that amount of fear.

So what in the world had happened to Zexion that would cause that kind of reaction?

* * *

It was dark when Demyx finally pulled into the driveway of his house. He slowly pulled himself out of the car, stretching with a groan. "Six hours…." he moaned, stretching and wincing as long-since-immobile leg muscles pulled in protest.

Zexion was already out of the car, stumbling slightly in the snow. His breath shuddered out of his lungs, misting and curling in the cold air. He felt Demyx watch as he tilted his head back, a tremor ghosting over his entire body, and then he turned his deep blue eyes to the blonde. Fingering the bags nervously, Zexion stared at him, waiting to be brought inside before-

_- drifting, falling, oh god, and they were slipping, being thrown sideways, what's happ-_

Demyx smiled at him -and Zexion fixed his eyes firmly on Demyx's face again, refusing to allow himself see anything else- and led them to the door, somehow managing to open it with one elbow and a hip. "Mama!" he called, wrestling the bags into the front hallway. "I'm home! And Zexy's here too!"

There was a laugh from a door down the hall, and a blonde woman stepped out, wiping her hands on a towel. Her golden blonde hair framed a light-skinned, smiling face, and glasses perched precariously on her nose, which was smeared with flour. Bright, robin's egg blue eyes twinkled behind the frames, and Demyx's mother held open her arms to her son.

Almost immediately, Demyx dropped the suitcases and darted towards her, slowing himself just enough to keep from knocking her over as he hugged her tightly.

Zexion studied them silently, placing his bags on the floor with a bit more care than Demyx had. His blonde roommate was taller than his mother by an inch or two, and was obviously delighted to see her again. They had similar eyes, though Demyx's were green-blue where his mother's were grey-blue. They were both slender and had lean torsos and long, long legs.

Glancing up, he caught the eyes of Mrs. Trepe as she pulled away from her son.

"So, you are Zexion. My boy has talked so much about you, and it's so nice to finally meet you," and she walked up to him with a hand outstretched, eyes warm. The pale man found himself taking her hand cautiously. She smiled, a simple upwards bend of her lips without showing any teeth, so unlike her son in that aspect -and was he _really_ comparing Demyx to his mother?

"Call me Quistis, Zexion. I'll let Demyx settle you in, and I'll get dinner out as soon as possible. Is that alright?"

He nodded, releasing her hand and stepping back slightly, retreating to stand near their bags. As he waited for Demyx, Zexion couldn't stop a yawn. It had been a long car ride, and he had barely been able to relax at all. The snow hadn't helped matters much-

_-sliding sliding screaming crunching so so out of control, someone please stop this, please, please help, why does it hurt, ple-_

Shuddering and driving his fingernails into his palm to ground himself in the present again, the pale man walked down the stairs into the basement, where Demyx led him to a guest room. He stood in the room for a while, staring at the wood-paneled walls without really seeing anything, and started when a hand clapped down on his shoulder.

Demyx watched him with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?"

And Zexion could only nod, unable to say that he was hearing screams of people and metal, seeing only snow and ice and wind and blood.

The next morning dawned surprisingly clear, and the sky was a vibrant, almost-painfully bright blue. Zexion was in much better control of himself, despite an almost sleepless night full of nightmares and memories.

He knew that Demyx watched him carefully for the first few hours. He also knew that Demyx didn't believe him when he indicated that he was alright.

The crescent marks of his nails were still there, deep red and aching.

* * *

The days spent at Demyx's house were enjoyable. Quistis was just as adept as her son at reading Zexion, which made conversations much easier, and the pale man found he actually wanted to communicate with her.

Maybe it was a family trait.

For a while, Zexion was a little uncomfortable around the blondes, since the depth of their affection for each other was glaringly obvious and he felt like an outsider. But somehow, Quistis had decided to 'adopt' Zexion as another son.

And he was included.

It….

It was a strange feeling, and one he hadn't experienced for a while.

On a night where their breath misted out of their noses, where the air coated the insides of their throats, where their ears hurt from how cold it was, Demyx took Zexion out to a hill that bisected the town. He sat quietly, watching the bobbing lights of cars in a sea of darkness as Demyx told him humorous stories about his father ("What? Oh no, he's not dead! He's just not here, since he works for a shipping company, and he's out to sea for six months of every year!" (3)). The blonde ended up curled close to Zexion, since his jacket wasn't quite warm enough to stop his shivering.

A comfortable silence fell, clouds of white breath wafting and catching the faint colors of far away lights in the air.

The urge to speak, to make some sort of noise, anything, was a constant pressure in Zexion's throat.

He couldn't say anything.

Never before had that irritated him so much.

* * *

It was early.

Zexion knew this the second he woke up, but he turned and blinked at the red lights of the clock out of habit. Letting his head fall back onto the pillow, one arm coming up to cover his eyes, a harsh breath escaped his lips. Way too early. _The best idea would be to just go back to sleep_, he thought, rubbing his forehead.

Of course, once he had decided to try and go to sleep, he was wide awake.

After countless minutes were wasted, Zexion gave up and got out of bed, flexing his toes in the carpet before quietly slinking out of the room. As he climbed the stairs, a thin beam of light caught his eye. He traced it back to Demyx's door.

What in the world was _he_ doing awake at this hour?

Curiously, Zexion pushed on the door, not expecting it to click softly open.

Demyx's room was –of course- messy and cluttered, but the walls were covered in strange patterns of blue and white that looked like roses (4). The entire area was suffused in the saltwater and skin scent of his blonde roommate. Examining the room carefully, Zexion felt his eyes soften when he saw Demyx, sprawled haphazardly half-on and half-off his bed with the covers thrown everywhere except on what they were actually supposed to be covering – Demyx himself.

With a sigh, Zexion stepped carefully around all the things on the floor, making his way to the bed. Even more carefully, he rearranged Demyx so his head was on a pillow and the majority of his body was on the bed, managing not to jump when the musician's hand curled around his own.

He stared at their intertwined hands for a second, a curious smile playing about his lips.

Stroking his thumb over Demyx's palm gently, he pulled his hand free to brush Demyx's bangs out of his face. Even in sleep, a smile was on his roommate's face. He wished….

There was that pressure again.

Zexion swallowed hard, opened his mouth, felt his hands shake slightly.

"…"

Took a deep breath.

"….."

Opened his mouth.

"….-yx."

Licked his lips, a happy, but disbelieving curve to his mouth.

"…D-" Swallowed again, throat clenching a little as he tried once more, "Dem…yx."

A soft, hoarse whisper, spoken into an unhearing ear.

"Demyx."

Now that strange pressure wasn't crushing his throat, cutting off his breath. He could speak again. He had _made_ himself speak again. If he woke up in the morning with tired eyes and a mysterious smile, that was his own business. After all, he had just gotten his voice back. He was allowed to keep it a secret for a bit.

_Now_, Zexion thought as he left the room, turning off the lights as he went, _now I can sleep._

He did stop to look once more at Demyx before he closed the door, laughing very softly when he heard the rumblings of a snore.

It felt good to laugh again.

* * *

*takes a deep breath*

HAH.

TAKE THAT, DEATH CHAPTER.

TAKE IT.

Sorry, I'm just a little…pleased with myself, if you can't tell. I took this, and made it my bitch. After…oh, six weeks of me being its bitch.

Root for the underdog!

(1) – Aaaaaand the "meet the parents" conversation….

(2) – Most important trait in a mother.

(3) – Totally based this on my high school German teacher's husband. That seriously was his job.

(4) – Take a feather duster, dip it in paint, and press it on a white wall. It looks like roses, and you can make awesome patterns with it.

**Beta'd by: Evil-Pixie-Dust**. The love of my writing life. BUT I WANNA BE SERENA!

**Evil-Pixie-Dust: "Axel: We've been through this, Demyx, you're Neptune. Roxy is Serena. XD"**

**Next Chapter:** A return to interlude style, a surprise, and time passes.

…Have I told you all how much I love you?

No, really, have I?

Cuz it's…ya know, a lot.

Take infinity, square it, multiply by 42, and you're getting about halfway there.

In other news, Review please? I like knowing what you like and don't like.


	8. Duet

Disclaimers:

I WANT TO PLAY BBS SO BADLY I'M PRACTICALLY FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. If I owned it, I would _already have it._

**Author's Notes:** So, this is supposed to be interlude-style. And it does that pretty well, only not really. There's a part in here that just works so terribly with the "no dialogue" rule that runs with the style, so I had to break that. *shrugs* It was worth it. You will also notice a lack of foot note stuff. I'm sorry, I was too tired and didn't really want to go through this again to insert them. If you want to know anything, just review or message me, or something. I'll get back to you, promise.

**Dedications: **To **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. I love you, kid. And you'd better know that. If you don't, remind me to tell you more often. **Dualism**, because you rock my world, whatever disasters you may have with the self-confidence thing. We love you to pieces. For **Sarehptar**, because I will never have the bravery to talk to ever, except to tell you that a certain song is so perfect for _The Violet Room._ **FOR EVERYONE WHO EVER READS THIS STORY**, because obviously I'm doing something right here.

**Reviews: **

It's quite simple. I LOVE YOU PEOPLE.

ALL OF YOU.

*sobs out of pure joy*

You all rock my world.

Alright, that tiny little sob-fest aside, let's move onto the story!

* * *

Demyx unlocked their door and walked inside, smiling absently at the uncluttered room. It was good to be home again. Classes would start in a couple of days, there would be frantic book-buying tomorrow, but for right now, now it was just time to breathe a relax for a day. But there was something wrong.

He frowned and looked closely at the room. What was different?

And then it hit him.

The couch, which had served as Axel's bed for almost four months by that point, wasn't covered in blankets and clothes like it had been. In fact, the pile of clothing that was Axel's that used to be in the corner was completely….

Gone.

It…wasn't supposed to be gone.

Demyx's eyes were drawn to his desk, where a single key rested, one that opened the door to their room.

A terrible, rushing pounding noise filled Demyx's ears.

_Axel…._

Zexion had told him. Perhaps not in so many words, since the lilac-haired man couldn't speak, but still. Zexion had told him what was going on when Demyx refused to believe it.

Axel had left.

No explanation had been given, no note, just a sudden vanishing of clutter and warmth. Axel had left, and their room was uncomfortably large and lonely without his almost-constant presence. Demyx unconsciously looked for a flame-red mass of spikes whenever they were out, praying like he had when Axel had shown up again that the lean man would come back.

If he heard the silent pleas, Axel never came back.

Axel had left.

Left, and so much had left with him.

There was no more fiery tang of metal in the air. No more movie nights where four or more people would end up in a tangled pile of limbs like a group of snuggling puppies and one of them was always too bony and comfortably warm. No quiet and not-so-quiet sniping back and forth between a certain redhead and either Zexion or Roxas.

…Roxas…

Demyx could almost feel Roxas tearing to pieces.

It was a subtle thing, Roxas's breaking. Unless you had seen him, comfortable and bantering around Axel, there wasn't anything different. Except for something tighter around the blonde's eyes, the way his mouth seemed set in a permanent frown. The tension in his shoulders. The bitterness that laced every comment, made them all taste like foul, slow-killing poison.

Sora's tears every time he looked at Roxas.

"_You were so happy,"_ he would say, as if saying that would help him get better. _"So very happy, Roxas…"_

Roxas slept in their room a couple of nights every week.

Both Zexion and Demyx pretended they didn't see his red eyes and salt-crusted eyelashes every morning. It wasn't their place to tell him to get over Axel's sudden departure. Not when Demyx was also hurt by it. But the musician should have expected it. Should have seen it coming.

He should have, and he kept beating himself up over it. He should have seen it coming from miles away, further than that. After all, it was Axel. Axel the vagabond, who never stayed anywhere for longer than two weeks but had stuck around for four months here. Axel the wanderer, who always wondered what was over the next hill, beyond the horizon.

Who had just left.

Axel, who – as cliché as it sounded – had taken Roxas's heart with him.

* * *

Everything felt like it had been rubbed raw and bleeding. The group's interactions were strained, missing a spark, and all of them were afraid of saying something that would set that closed-down scowl on Roxas's face. All because Axel had left.

Zexion hated him.

No one person should be able to cause so much pain and confusion.

The inconsiderate bastard had even tried to hide the fact that he was leaving.

"_Don't worry about it, Dem. I slipped at work today and got burned, that's all._" And Axel had smiled, laughed it off.

Lied.

Lied through his teeth.

Zexion had known. When he had come in earlier, he had seen the bandage over his un-tattooed cheek and _he had known_. They had started to argue in the strange way they had, hissing and tapping noises from the slate-haired man and yelling from the redhead, and finally, finally Zexion had just written it down on paper.

"_Coward."_

And Axel hadn't denied it, just bit his lip and glared, hissing softly about how he knew that, but he had to leave anyway. Because he just had to know what was out there, he had to get out, get going, just _leave_.

Zexion hated him.

Because that's exactly what he had done.

Just…left.

But slowly, oh so slowly, things were getting better.

The space where Axel had been was still blank and shadowed in hurt, but a day finally came where Larxene remembered something Axel had done and it made everyone laugh. Demyx blinked, looked around the group and laughed again. They were healing. Not forgetting, but slowly accepting the loss.

Even Roxas had laughed, though his eyes were glass-pane flat and cold.

Months later, the redhead was remembered with an exasperated sort of fondness, and everyone had gotten used to the fragile pain that lingered around Roxas and Demyx. The two blondes, Zexion knew, were sad for different reasons. Demyx, because Axel was a friend and he felt guilty about not seeing that Axel was going to leave. Roxas, because Roxas was in love and had been betrayed.

He wasn't going to get over that any time soon.

But still.

Life moved on.

The days plodded on, schoolwork swarmed over the group of students, and they kept going. Things were good, but all was not fixed.

Zexion still couldn't speak in front of people. He didn't know why, but it never felt like the right time to show Demyx that he could talk again. Late at night, he spoke to himself, reading passages from books, making sure he remembered how to properly pronounce words. The strange, oppressive pressure that had clogged his throat during the winter break came back, almost painful and chocking.

He wondered how he had managed to not speak for so long.

Every day was a battle against his impulses, the overwhelming _want_ to speak to Demyx warring against his habitual silence. He wanted to erase the sad look in Demyx's green-blue eyes, but he couldn't find a way to do it. It was killing him, and he had never thought himself one to use such overdramatic language. But there was a twisting sort of agony in his chest that could not be ignored.

How had he managed?

* * *

Demyx blinked curiously down at the tickets on his desk.

It wasn't like he was going to refuse them (because really, they were tickets to go see _André Rieu)_, but he didn't know who they had come from. And there were two of them. So who had left them, and who wanted to go with him?

Turning to Zexion, who was sitting quietly at his desk, Demyx asked him if he had seen anyone leave the tickets there.

Zexion paused then shook his head.

There was another pause before Demyx wondered out loud who wanted him to go, plopping down heavily into his chair, tapping his foot on the side of the desk.

A slight touch on his shoulder, and Demyx looked up to see his pale roommate standing behind him. Slight tingeing his cheeks and ears a light rose, a faint blush rushed across Zexion's face as he pointed to himself.

The blonde blinked, asked if Zexion wanted to come along.

Nodding slightly, Zexion's hands wavered for a second before reaching out to grab the tickets, passing one to Demyx and holding the other one carefully between his fingers.

Okay, now there was _no_ way Demyx wasn't going.

Because it was basically a date. With _Zexion_.

And Demyx didn't even really have to ask him.

It was a few weeks before the concert (and really, how did that person even get the tickets this close? They had been sold out for months. Demyx knew. He had checked.), but no matter who he asked, no one knew who had bought them, and Zexion, usually very aware of who entered their room, had no idea who had left them on his desk. Demyx knew that something was up. Sure, he may not be the _most_ observant of people, but still. When things all lined up like this, it was quite obvious.

Obviously, he had…no idea.

Maybe someone would tell him eventually….

Knowing his friends though, he would be kept in the dark for a long, long time.

He waited anxiously for the day of the concert, though the closer it got, the more nervous he was. It eventually reached the point where he was running down the hall to Sora's room, thrusting approximately fifteen outfits at the theater major and insisting that he help Demyx choose an outfit.

Roxas kicked him out of the room after the first three.

Finally, dressed in a pair of pinstriped black pants and a royal blue dress shirt that he had spent hours agonizing over –he was turning into _such_ a girl-, Demyx met Zexion to go see André Rieu.

The concert was amazing. The lights, the sounds, the _waltzes_. Demyx only hoped that whenever he played music, he looked half as happy as André did.

At the first shimmering strains of violins (André had laughed, laughed and said that he couldn't keep people from dancing when this song played), Demyx quivered in his seat, leaning forward and focusing his entire existence on the notes that were to follow. He could feel Zexion's curious gaze on him, but the rest of the orchestra had joined in.

And the Blue Danube Waltz had begun.

The music swirled and ran around him, lifting him up and singing inside him until he could no longer take it. Demyx stood up, smiled down at Zexion, and pulled the pale man up to dance. Wide cobalt eyes stared up at him –his roommate was actually quite small, he kept forgetting that- as the blonde started to gently ease him into a waltz. After a couple of bars of stepping on each other's feet, Zexion sighed, and switched their hands, taking the lead.

Demyx laughed and danced, Zexion's body warm against his own.

He could see something like a smile on pale lips, and he realized in a flash of not-quite-melancholy that this is what he needed to let Axel go.

Closeness.

Movement.

It was over too soon.

Demyx focused on getting them home, feeling the beginnings of exhaustion creeping up on him. Carefully, carefully he drove home, laughing every few seconds from remembered joy, and they made it back to the dorms just in time for a wave of dizziness to wash over the blonde musician.

He let himself be helped up to the room, still chortling madly, even though his mind couldn't focus enough to do much more.

And he had the crazy feeling that he was talking, murmuring half-formed sentences to the person he was leaning on. Demyx didn't quite understand what was happening, but then Zexion's face swam into focus through the blur of shadows and colors his world had become. Reaching out, his hands tapped and patted Zexion's cheek gently.

The blonde slurred out a sentence, trying to focus on his roommate's face, and instead settling on a happy, exhausted grin in his general direction. Feeling numbness sweep over his mind, Demyx let himself be maneuvered underneath his blankets.

And as he settled into sleep, he thought he heard a soft voice reply:

"_I know."_

Demyx woke up the next morning in a sweat.

What the hell had he said last night?

His dreams had been filled with swirling words, impressions that flung themselves against him and drained away within minutes. With one hand he rubbed his forehead; the other clenched tightly in his sheets. What had happened? What had he said?

"_I love you, you know?"_

Blinking, he focused, trying hard to come up with what had happened before that whispered sentence.

And all he could remember was Zexion's face, and a single, almost-silent reply.

"_I know."_

Demyx started swearing.

* * *

Zexion decided that his blonde roommate had been contaminated by Axel's bad habits.

Because really, where else would Demyx learn those words?

Sitting at his desk, idly watching the sunlight stream through the window, the pale man's thoughts scattered easily. Had he really spoken to Demyx? Just two words, perhaps, and said when there was almost no chance of Demyx realizing that it wasn't simply a dream, but it was still a step forward.

He was getting closer.

It was now just a matter of time.

Two weeks later, Zexion was once again sitting at his desk, futilely trying to pay attention to his work.

His eyes tracked over to see Demyx sitting on the couch, looking for all the world like he'd just rather be back in bed. A pencil was shoved behind one ear, legs crossed underneath a book and a piece of paper. And Demyx was chewing on his lip, his eyes almost crossing with the amount he was concentrating. His eyes were tired –which was a surprise, because Demyx had an endless store of energy- and his hands were moving slowly across the paper, one finger tracing the words he was reading as his lips formed the sounds silently. The blonde yawned, stretching backwards and twisting from side to side to wake up muscles that had relaxed.

Then, by some coincidence or just plain bad luck, he slipped off the couch.

Zexion wasn't quite sure what it was, perhaps the squeaking noise Demyx made when he hit the ground, or the pouting, offended glare he gave the couch (as though it was the couch's fault he had fallen), or maybe just the fact that it had happened so quickly. Or maybe it was none of it.

But Zexion looked at Demyx, red-faced and sitting on the floor and utterly embarrassed, and _laughed_.

And that was the beginning.

* * *

Zexion sighed and looked around the room. The walls were too white, and the window was large, but seemed too small. The floor was tile and cold and there was nothing in the way of clutter except for boxes. There was no sign of the life and vitality that had been in this room only a few days ago. It was time to go home.

Summer was beginning.

Once more he sighed before turning to face the other person in the room with him.

Sea-blue eyes watched him anxiously as their owner shifted from foot to foot. Biting his lip, Demyx murmured, "I'm going to miss you, Zexy…"

The pale man nodded in reply, the habit of years hard to break even now.

"Call me?"

A smile flitting across his angular face, Zexion nods again.

"Promise? Every week, remember?"

There was a slightly fond sigh and the English major reached over to put his hand on Demyx's shoulder. It was a reassuring gesture, and he could feel the tension melting underneath his sensitive fingertips. For his efforts, he received a sunny smile.

And with that, he turned to go, backpack swaying on his shoulders.

The door closed behind him.

For a second he stood there, wondering: Was that it? Was that all there was going to be - silence, nothing said, nothing explained?

He didn't even make it to the stairs right outside their room before the door slammed open behind him and Demyx rushed out. The blonde spotted him, and didn't stop, just barreled straight into him, and Zexion found warm, strong arms tugging him close, and he was cradled against a muscled chest.

"I _can't_." Demyx said breathlessly, and there was a small hint of tears in his voice. "I can't just let you leave without knowing what will happen to you, and it's just too much for me to...to… I can't bear the thought of missing another chance, because what if after summer is too late-"

Later, Zexion couldn't explain his reasoning. He only knew that the frantic words spilling from Demyx's mouth were echoing and resounding painfully within the confines of his chest, and he needed to stop them before his heart twisted out of his chest. So when he pulled back from the hug to catch Demyx's face with his hands, it was only instinct and a furious sort of need that drove him.

He kissed Demyx.

It was a simple, soft press of lips against lips for a second, almost-but-not-quite settling into something _more_.

It was over too soon.

Zexion searched Demyx's face anxiously. For a sign, for anything. All he got was a blank, flushed look, and wide, wide green-blue eyes followed by tons of stammering and generally incomprehensible sentences. Once more he took his blonde roommate's face with his hands, trying to calm him down. After several minutes of just random psycho-babble, Demyx just stared at him. Silently.

Swallowing hard, the lilac-haired man lowered his eyes, searching for something to say. This was why he didn't speak….

Tanned hands came up to stroke the skin of his cheek, tilting his face up again. Demyx was smiling.

"I love you," Zexion whispered, cobalt eyes locked on his face.

A laugh, another kiss, followed by another, and three more, the spaces filled with breathless laughter.

"I love you too."

So began the summer.

* * *

Bieuabvcnkdlciosbalknds ncre;jandfjks;n;nns.

DONE.

FINISHED.

No, not completely, just with this chapter. Fools. Don't get so freaked out on me.

**Beta'd by: Evil-Pixie-Dust**. She's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful person, and I wonder quite frequently how much more desolate my world would have been without her. I don't like the picture it brings up…

**Evil-Pixie-Dust:** Oh, it would probably be a world filled with smoke and bombs and utter entropy. –smirk-

**Next Chapter:** All is well in the world. Except….

Cookies for everyone who reviews (and a promise of a Zemyx oneshot eventually. Because I haven't started writing it yet, so I can't really promise it.)


	9. I Cannot Believe My Eyes

**Disclaimers: **I think we all understand that I don't own it.

**Author's Notes:** Beleabkfjdksjn,mijwfenju KEYBOARD SMASH. That aside, this is the _last chapter of Silence is Golden!_ *cheers, then bawls* I'm a little sad to end it, but… I'm glad it's done at the same time. I have a few more (read: tons more) stories I'd like to work on, and knowing that I've finally gotten a multi-chaptered fic done will boost my self-confidence SO MUCH! I'll try to reply to all reviews (especially on this chapter) as best I can!

Also, if you're interested, I do have a LiveJournal account, where I spaz and rant, and post progress reports on my insanity and the fics I'm working on. There's a link to it on my profile, and I'm really very friendly. I'll take any comers.

**Dedications:** To **Evil-Pixie-Dust**. Because you are the best person ever, no joke. And it totally counts if I'm the one saying it, stop looking at me like that. To **Dualism**. Because I have such an author crush on you, no joke. To **Sarehptar**. Because I can, and I don't need another reason. To **Besieged-Infection. **Because you have my MSN and you aren't afraid to pester me to get this done. And because you listen to me whining about how this chapter wasn't being good like it was supposed to. To **EVERYONE READING THIS RIGHT NOW**. I LOVE YOU ALL, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

**Reviews:**

**Dannywolf:** Thank you so much! I tried to get this chapter out sooner, I promise!

**Bitter Candies****:** Don't worry! No one else wanted him to go either! Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy it! (And I really did try…*tear*)

And so begins the last chapter….

* * *

The hazy September sun pressed against his skin like a living thing, dancing between the colder fingers of gusting wind. Shivering in pleasure, Zexion tilted his head back, air threading between the strands of his hair and lifting them playfully.

"Aw, come on, Roxas! Surely the sun isn't that painful! Aren't you glad you're getting out and _living _a little?"

"No, not really."

"You're just a constant downer, aren't you?"

"Have you ever considered that you're just too stupid to notice that I'm really not happy out here?"

"Me, stupid? Oh Roxas, you _have _to be kidding me!"

"Sora, get off me!"

Zexion raised one eyebrow, amusement crossing his face as he listened to Sora poke and tease his caustic blonde twin. A sigh escaping his lips, he closed his eyes to enjoy the warm sunlight. The ambient chatter of the fair surrounded him and faint scents of barbeque and candy drifted to his nose.

A hand slid across the back of his neck, and Zexion turned to smile slightly at Demyx. The blond musician scooted a little closer to him, enjoying the fact that he could, and ended up pressing most of his lanky form against Zexion's side, sighing happily.

Smile growing larger, Zexion reached out to brush his fingers against the ones on his neck.

"Zexy, are you having a good time?"

He curled his fingers, twining his hand with Demyx's as he briefly looked up. "It is more entertaining than I thought it would be."

Demyx laughed, the sound reverberating through his frame and into Zexion, and replied, "I told you so. You should just learn to trust me!"

"Perhaps."

Sora bounded up next to them, Roxas in tow and a smile cracking his features open. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Riku said he was meeting us inside the big tent!"

A snort came from Roxas. "Yeah, because lover-boy couldn't have bothered to meet us out here."

Smiling dropping slightly but not disappearing, Sora turned to face his twin again, hands gesturing agitatedly. "Roxas, don't be like that! What in the world has Riku done to you?"

The blonde boy didn't answer, just shrugged and walked forward towards the fair. Sora rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and ran after him, tackling him with a good-natured laugh, their friendly tussling quickly turning into a mild wrestling match.

Demyx laughed at them, aqua eyes glittering. "Kids, stop fighting! And stay close, we don't want to get separated!"

"Yes, Mother," the twins chorused sarcastically over their shoulders as they straightened.

"…Mother?"

Zexion shrugged. "Don't ask."

With a sigh, Demyx acquiesced. "I'll take your word for it. Let's catch up."

Entering the fairgrounds, the English major looked around curiously at the booths, bits and pieces of items catching his eye. He made sure to keep up with Demyx, though, and they quickly caught up to Roxas and Sora.

"So, Roxas, how do you like the fair so far?" Demyx gently bumped the smaller blonde with his shoulder, a grin on his face.

"It's… kinda nice, actually. I didn't think I'd be running into so many people I know from college." Roxas waved idly to another person from his department that passed them, looking at a booth that was selling glass figurines. "Part of me just half-expects someone to just pop up and say-"

"Hey look, there's Axel!"

Roxas snorted, a half-frown twisting his lips. "Come on, Demyx. That's not funny."

The musician shook his head and said blankly, "No really, there's Axel." He pointed at a booth across the crowded street that seemed to be selling swords and knives. Outside of the tent stood a man that Zexion could have sworn was the offspring of a tank and a bulldozer, with cold blue eyes and auburn hair, but no sign of the thin redhead.

"I am not going over there."

"Aw, come on, Roxas…. Demyx could just be mistaken…," Sora pleaded, tugging on Roxas's arm.

"Absolutely not. You know Demyx has perfect vision, _and_ he knows Axel. There's no way he's not right. I am _not_ going anywhere near him."

Demyx let out a sigh, and Zexion tilted his head curiously at him. Shaking his head, the blonde shrugged back and moved towards the booth, a small smile playing about his lips. Unable to resist his curiosity -and because Demyx had already begun walking over- Zexion cautiously slipped through the moving crowd, hearing Sora and Roxas arguing behind him. He knew that eventually the brunette would be able to get his stubborn twin into the tent if he really set his mind to it.

Or if he whipped out the begging eyes.

A forge had been set up underneath the tent, its heat filling the small area. The warm glow of the fire illuminated the form of a thin, lanky man bent over an anvil. Working on the piece of metal in his tongs, the man sent a few powerful blows of his hammer to each side, carefully shaping it. His fire-truck red hair was pulled back in an unruly ponytail, and it was impossible to tell his eye color under the protective glasses he wore, but as he turned to reheat his work, Zexion caught sight of a telltale pair of teardrop tattoos under his eyes.

Axel.

Turning to face the front of the tent, the redhead pushed up his glasses with the wrist of one hand, revealing the cleaner skin around his fever green eyes. He heaved a sigh, leaning back and bracing his hands on the back of his hips to stretch.

"Hey, boss-man! I don't suppose you could toss some beer or something back here?" the redhead called out jovially, twisting from side to side.

A grunt came from the front of the tent as the giant answered. "Drunken blacksmithing isn't the best idea, Axel. Get back to work."

Axel laughed vividly, and Zexion glanced over to see a smile on Demyx's face. "Some water, then! It's fucking _hot_ back here, and it's just not me this time! Jesus, who decided to put the forge under the tent?"

"Safety regulations."

"I'd think that the possibility of heat stroke would make this just as dangerous! C'mon, Lexaeus, throw me a bone here!"

Looking back behind him, Zexion saw Sora tugging Roxas into the tent. They were too far away to really hear anything over the roar of the forge, and Roxas was digging in his heels about going any further, something painfully angry and nervous hidden in his eyes.

It was at that moment, of course, that Demyx decided to lean forward, pressing his water bottle to Axel's shoulder.

"Hah! Even the customers are taking better care of me tha-" Axel turned to face Demyx and his eyes widened in surprise. A smile stretching his lips slowly, the redhead reached out and tugged the musician into a warm hug, exclaiming, "Demyx! How've ya been?"

And Demyx just laughed, acted like Axel _hadn't_ disappeared without a word, began chattering to him about everything that had happened over the summer. Zexion felt his eyes narrowing, and stepped up beside his boyfriend, hovering behind his shoulder. Too green eyes flicked to him, and Axel's grin became almost vicious.

"Sooo…"

Zexion flinched slightly.

How he _hated_ that word!

Axel just grinned more. Tilting his head over his shoulder to check on the piece of metal, he spread his hands to the side helplessly. "Come on Zexy, don't be like that!"

A shrug and a glare.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too." Axel held up a hand briefly, turning back to the forge to grab the glowing iron with a pair of large metal tongs. After he set it on the anvil and flattened it a bit more with a few blows from his hammer, he turned back to them, curiosity written all over his face. "Wait….are you still not talking? Dem, I thought you would move faster than that! Come on now!"

Demyx sent the English major a pleading glance, coupled with a slight flush across his cheeks that had nothing to do with the heat of the forge.

"Just because you feel the need to run your mouth all the time, Axel," Zexion sighed, his voice still slightly raspy around the corners, "doesn't mean the rest of us do."

He felt a little glow of satisfaction as Axel's jaw dropped. Perhaps he should do that more often.

Tilting his head to the side, the redhead's smirk softened into a smile and he nodded, pleased with something. "Good. It only took the two of you a year to get your heads on straight."

Demyx flushed deeper, hissing slightly, "Axeeeellll! Shut _up!_"

"Aw, Demy…."

Zexion stopped paying attention to the friendly banter between the two, knowing how it was going to turn out anyway. They would play-fight, tease each other until someone gave in and started laughing. He took the opportunity to watch them instead, studying them in the glow of the forge.

Axel had gotten thinner, if such a thing was possible, the already-cutting lines of his face sharpening to lean, angular points. His eyes were the same vivacious green, though instead of just one teardrop under the right, there were now two –one beneath each eye. His hands still waved idly as he talked, drawing pictures in the air to illustrate his points.

But….

_Something…is different._

Zexion watched as the redhead slid his eyes over Demyx and Zexion, searching the people behind and around them almost anxiously before returning them to the chattering blonde. Axel was shifting from foot to foot, tensing and relaxing his shoulders as he looked around. Surprise coursed through the pale English major, and he raised an eyebrow, cobalt eyes wide.

Axel was looking for someone.

And Zexion would bet Luxord his book collection that it was Roxas.

* * *

Demyx was in the middle of chatting to Axel about his summer when Axel's too-green eyes flicked to a point behind him. The redhead froze, and it seemed as though every inch of his body was suddenly aching to get near whatever it was he was looking at.

_Or _who_ever, _Demyx realized with a start.

"Roxas," Axel whispered, his voice somehow carrying over the roar of the forge.

Looking over his shoulder, Demyx saw Roxas, turned away from them, his shoulders tight with fury as he stalked out of the tent.

Axel leaned after him unconsciously, jerking himself back a second later. Hands smoothing erratically over the tablecloth, fingers squeezing wrinkles into the fabric, he looked around nervously, uncertainly. Demyx just sighed. Apparently, some things didn't change.

"Go after him, you idiot," he said, smiling lopsidedly.

Casting a worried look at the forge, and the still-heating piece of iron inside, the redhead hovered in place. A large –scratch that, massive (how big _was _this guy?)- hand clapped down on Axel's bony shoulder, and ice blue eyes stared down at him.

"I'll watch the forge. Go."

And Axel nodded, handing his hammer to the large man and stripping off his gloves and leather apron as he hurried out of the tent.

Demyx looked at Zexion.

His slate-haired boyfriend raised a single eyebrow, quirked a smile, and shrugged, gesturing at all of the stands around them. "I didn't see which way Roxas went, and Sora gave up on making them talk like reasonable people and went to find Riku. Axel, however, went that way." He pointed to their right, already scanning the booth next to them, which was full of books.

Laughing slightly and knowing that he would probably be able to find Zexion there later, Demyx started to follow Axel. _Seriously, with his hair, you'd think it'd be easy to find him…_, the blonde sighed, shaking his head. Dodging between the people, he tried to keep an eye on the tall redhead, swearing under his breath when he reached an intersection with no clue which way Axel had gone.

"Let's see…Left or right? Or straight?" Demyx mumbled to himself, looking each way in hopes of seeing Axel's distinctive hair. Finding nothing, he heaved a sigh. "…Right it is, then. Insane people always turn right."

"Roxas, wait!"

In the middle of hurrying down the tent-lined street, the musician halted his steps, whipping his head in every direction wildly. Catching a flicker of flame-red hair behind one of the stalls, he darted between two tents, into the small grove of trees surrounding the entire fair.

Peeking around the edge of one of the trees –he wasn't eavesdropping, damn it, he was concerned about his two friends-, Demyx saw Axel finally catch up to Roxas, wrapping a thin-fingered hand around his wrist. Roxas, not looking at Axel at all, wrenched his hand away from the redhead, panting hard, eyes wide and pained.

"Get away from me," Roxas whispered, fists clenched tightly.

Demyx noticed that he didn't keep running, though.

"No." Axel stood his ground, a frown on his angular face. "I want to talk to you."

Roxas whirled to face him, and Demyx flinched from the obvious fury in his eyes. "So talk. Asshole."

"I left earlier this year-" he ignored the snort from the shorter blonde, "-to go on a blacksmithing tour with Lexaeus. My boss. He normally works here, but this was his year to go around to other smithies and see how they're all doing. That's not the only reason, since I didn't have to go, but…" he shook his head, "that…doesn't really matter. I left because I needed to." Axel shrugged casually. "And now I'm back. And I won't be leaving again."

Roxas just stared at him, eyes disbelieving and wide with anger. Silent for a second, his face hardened into a glare before exclaiming furiously, "You can't just-!" He shook his head, clenched his fingers around open air. "Just fucking _waltz _back into my life like nothing happened! You can't _do_ that! I, I-I'm not like Demyx, okay? I can't-! You can't-" Dragging his hands roughly through his hair, the blonde paused, eyes closed for a brief moment to battle back his tears. "You c-can't disappear for months and never say anything , never tell us you're _leaving, _and-" and it was a lost cause, as the first drops of wetness slipped past to stream down his cheeks "-and _come back_ like nothing's _changed_! I don't-, it doesn't _**work **_like that! It just _**doesn't**_, damn it!"

A deep silence stretched through the clearing, the surface of it only scratched by the muted noise of the fair. Demyx felt as though his breathing was too loud, too much, that it would shatter the buzzing pressure of silence against his ears and they would hear him and know that he was there.

Axel watched him, his face almost supernaturally calm, and tilted his head to the side, baring his right cheek and the teardrop tattoo on it. "I got this before I left, Roxy. I'm sure you know why."

The blonde sucked in a sharp breath. "…You can't do that to me, Axel…" Roxas's voice was a broken thing, all glass edges, razor-sharp and bleeding. Hanging his head to hide his eyes, the blonde's shoulders curled up defensively. "It's not fair…. Damn it, it's just not fair…."

"Roxy…" Axel's voice was soft, and his eyes never wavered from Roxas's face. Anxiety finally bled through his features as his hands flexed nervously, unsure whether to reach out or stay still.

Roxas's shoulders hunched further, his face turned down and away from Axel's bright, searching gaze. "Don't call me that," he ground out.

A slight smile flickered across the redhead's lean face and some of his tension slipped from his lanky form. He took a single cautious step forward. "Roxas," he purred, and it was gentle, cajoling, completely unlike how Axel _normally_ said anything.

"Don't call me that either." His shoulders were tight and shaking, his bottom lip bitten almost bloody and set in an angry scowl. Fists clenched, he stood, tense arms straight down his sides before they flexed, coming to cross over his chest rigidly.

"Roxas." Once more, he stepped towards the blonde, his hands reaching out to gently cup the boy's elbows.

Even from where he stood, hiding behind a tree and trying -and failing- to _not_ look like he was a total creep, Demyx could see the moment Roxas gave in. Tears slipped from furious blue eyes, and there was a wounded sound from the smaller blonde. "…I hate you…," Roxas whispered, blinking furiously.

Axel just smiled, tugged him closer until Roxas was almost leaning against his chest. "No you don't, Roxy."

A sniffle. "Yes I do!" and Roxas pulled back a little, angry again and trying to set up walls around his heart once more. "I do! You _left_, you bastard! Of course I hate you!"

"I came back."

"Not soon enough," Roxas ground out, though his voice crumbled in the middle of it, and his eyes dropped, furious and despairing. "Not soon enough."

Too green eyes closed in a strange acknowledgement of that fact, and Demyx wanted to dart out from behind his cover, scream at him -_no, no, don't give up, you can't just give up on him, you asshole!-_ but he bit his lip hard and stayed put, knuckles white with the effort it took. He was afraid to blink, didn't want to look, couldn't stop looking because what if he missed the turning point? What if he missed the moment when everything would go either really good, or _really_ bad?

What if he couldn't bear to watch?

At a movement from the two in the middle of the clearing, Demyx's attention snapped back to Axel and Roxas.

"Maybe not soon enough, but it wasn't too late, though." And with those soft words, the redhead pulled Roxas towards him gently, long-fingered hands still resting on the boy's elbows. One of his hands slowly slid up Roxas's arm, giving him plenty of time to pull away, and cupped his jaw. Tilting the shorter boy's face up, Axel leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Roxas's lips.

The blonde trembled in place, trapped, though Axel was only touching him on his cheek and elbow with tender hands.

And then -with a low, needy whisper of breath- Roxas kissed him back, wrapping his arms tightly around the taller man's neck.

Politely, Demyx looked away from the kiss, ears flushing a vibrant red.

"…you're still an asshole," Roxas mumbled, and the musician glanced back. Roxas had tucked his head into Axel's shoulder, still clinging to him though his eyes were a shining, sad, elated blue. The redhead, his arms resting around Roxas's waist, hummed in agreement, his cheek resting in blonde hair. "I mean it."

Axel huffed a laugh and slowly, oh so slowly –Demyx personally thought that Roxas never wanted to leave the circle of Axel's arms, he was moving so slowly- the blonde pulled away from him, taking a few steps back. Cocking his head curiously, Axel just watched him, a smile in his eyes. "I know you do."

Sighing into the silence, Roxas crossed his arms.

"Sora got a boyfriend. Over the summer." Roxas's voice was a little muffled by the wind, and he heaved another large sigh, glancing to the side.

"Oh, did he now?"

"I blame you."

"Wh-what? Roxy, you can't blame me for your brother getting a boyfriend over summer break!"

"I can and I will. Watch me."

Axel threw back his head and laughed, rubbing his face with his hand in fond exasperation. "Now this, this I didn't miss."

Snorting, Roxas crossed his arms again, a smirk curling around the hidden curves of his lips. "Yes you did. You missed everything about me, admit it." Demyx tilted his head at the tone underlying the words and furrowed his eyebrows, confused. _Damn, Roxas's meanings are harder to puzzle out than Zexy's… first he insists that he doesn't want Axel back, now he's gloating and something else…._

Whatever the translation was, Axel apparently understood, as his manic grin softened into a smile. "Alright, alright, you caught me. I did miss you. Even your temper and tendency to make me out to be the bad guy."

Roxas shrugged, smirk growing. "S'not my fault if I'm right."

Axel grinned back at him and put a hand on his lean hip, beginning to gesture when a scuffing noise echoed through the clearing. The redhead's eyes narrowed and he whipped around to see what made the noise.

Demyx held very still.

But he didn't have to worry about being caught, because Zexion walked into the clearing, a clearly amused expression on his face and a book in his hands. "Don't you two have anything better to do besides bicker when you're supposed to be at a fair?"

Surprisingly enough, Axel just laughed a little, a sardonic cant to his smile. "Don't you have anything better to do than eavesdrop- oh wait… that's right."

"Drop it, Axel."

The lean man shrugged, grinned wider. "Make me, stalker-boy."

_Aaaand, that's my cue_, Demyx thought, standing up and running into the middle of them with a smile on his face. "Axel, Roxas, Zexy, there you all are!"

Roxas turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Like you weren't listening in this entire time…. Smooth, Demy."

"Oh hush, Roxas," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, Mother."

Demyx just smiled back guilelessly, walking over to stand next to him as Axel advanced on Zexion. Two pairs of eyes watched their argument with amusement.

"Zexion, why do you keep listening in on everything?" Axel sighed, spreading his hands wide.

"Why do you keep holding private conversations in public locations?" Zexion shot back.

The two blondes looked at each other and Demyx began to giggle helplessly, Roxas covering his mouth in an effort to stop his own laughter.

Some things _really_ never changed.

Gesturing at Demyx though his words were directed to the slate-haired man, Axel retorted, "Don't you have places to go? People to do?"

"I don't want to. Something tells me you've already done them all."

Sputtering incoherently for a bit, Axel's hands darted through the air, raking tensely through his hair. "I have not, and you know it!"

Roxas gave up trying to not laugh.

"You're a filthy, filthy little eavesdropper, did you know that?" The blacksmith scowled at all of them, arms crossed.

Staring back at him unrepentantly, Zexion shrugged, sending Demyx and Roxas into even more fits of laughter.

Axel almost growled, ignoring the laughing pair of blondes beside him, jabbing a finger towards the shorter man. "What the hell do you have to say for yourself?"

"Me? Speak? Oh you forget, I'm mute."

"That's no excuse, do you hear me, Zexion! None! Get back here!"

Wiping his eyes, Demyx straightened, looking up at the sky as Axel chased Zexion around the clearing. White and blue-grey clouds sprawled lazily against the blue background. The sun shone brightly around their corners, dappling the clearing with gold-green light. Demyx looked around at all of this.

And he smiled.

* * *

Zexion stood just outside Axel's reach, smirking slightly at him. "Come now, Axel. Surely you can do better than that?"

Huffing out another breath, the redhead scowled. He glowered briefly at Zexion before his fever-green eyes lit up. "He still doesn't know about that, does he?"

Blinking, the pale man tilted his head slightly. "Who doesn't know what?" And then he blinked again, eyes widening as realization suddenly hit. "Axel, no, don't-!"

"Oh, _Deeeeemyyyyx_!"

The musician turned to him, curious. "Yes, Axel?"

Zexion ran over to the taller redhead, reaching up to clap a hand over his mouth, which Axel easily dodged. Laughing through his words as he evaded Zexion's attempts to shut him up, Axel slowly drawled, "Welllll, I just thought you might want to know that –ow, careful with your elbows there, Zexy, you might actually hurt someone-" Zexion couldn't stop a snarl from rising to his lips, and he deliberately slammed his elbow harder into Axel's stomach. "-that dear, wonderful, lovely Zexion here has been listening to all your 'secret talks' to him since you started them." Axel paused, tilting his head in thought. "Or at least pretty soon after that."

Cobalt eyes closed tightly, their owner wincing. That…wasn't the way he had wanted to tell Demyx that he had been eavesdropping on him….

"Z-Zexy?"

"What this …_filthy ingrate_," he glared at Axel, who grinned innocently, "has said may not…be entirely untrue…."

Demyx covered his eyes with his hands, flushing an attractive shade of red. "Oh god….just…shoot me now, please. That's _really_ embarrassing…." Peeking between two of his fingers, he asked cautiously, "Since…last year?"

Nodding, Zexion rubbed the bridge of his nose. This wasn't going too badly….

"So…you've had to listen to me babble to you…for a year now?"

Zexion nodded again.

"Shit, that's embarrassing. Can someone please just kill me?" Demyx laughed sheepishly, his entire face covered in a blush.

Axel slung a lanky arm around Demyx's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "No, no, you're too much fun to mess with for us to kill you! Now, come on, Roxy said something about little baby Sora getting himself a boytoy? Tell me all about it."

A grin sliding across his face, Roxas shuffled forward, grabbing Axel's little finger on his free hand. Axel shot him a softer smile, squeezing his finger gently as he steered them back towards the fair.

They walked back into the main fairgrounds, sliding between the streams of people easily. Zexion watched Axel and Roxas tease and poke Demyx, make sarcastic cutting remarks about everything they saw, and shook his head, a fond smile crossing his face.

Watching as Demyx finally shook the pair off him, the pale man stepped towards him, leaning up to brush a kiss against his temple. Wide ocean-eyes blinked at him and Zexion murmured, "Love you."

Demyx turned red again, smiling back. "Love you too."

"Oh, there you are!"

All four of them turned towards the cheerful voice, seeing Sora drag a silver-haired man behind him. The brunette nodded at them all –seemingly unsurprised at Axel's presence- and gestured to his companion.

"Everyone, this is Riku. Riku, this is my mom, Demyx, and that's my dad, Zexion. The short blonde one is my twin brother, Roxas, who you've already met, and the tall redhead he's currently clinging to is my new brother-in-law, Axel. You can meet all my cousins and aunts and uncles later. They're back at the college."

Amused cool aqua eyes swept over all of them and returned to Sora. "I just shouldn't ask, should I?"

Sora grinned up at him, crossing his arms behind his head. "Nope. You really shouldn't."

Watching Axel smirk as he began to indoctrinate Riku into his peculiar brand of sarcasm, Zexion figured that all of these people weren't so bad after all. They were all still idiots in their own ways, but….

But he liked it like that.

Curling one hand around his new book, and sliding the other into Demyx's, he gazed around the fair, feeling the wind and the sun on his skin and the scents of food and people against his skin. Soon enough, school would bear down on all of them, and nothing would seem as strangely wonderful as it did on this afternoon, but none of that seemed to matter.

His head was tilted up by gentle fingers on his jaw, and Zexion blinked at Demyx's smiling face.

"I love you, Zexion."

And as Demyx kissed him gently while everyone else was distracted by the fair, by each other, Zexion just sighed into the kiss, pressed himself just a little closer.

Just let himself be.

And prayed for none of it to be forgotten.

* * *

…

…it's …finally done….

*cries*

So, really I'm not going to go through and mark all the numbered things again (*is too lazy for that*), but I still have one thing to mention.

Go back and reread the scene between Axel and Zexion in the clearing, where they're sort of insulting each other. But when you do, just think of this: I was imagining it like insult sword-fighting in _Secret of Monkey Island._

You have no idea how tempted I was to put this somewhere in their argument:  
"You fight like a cow!"  
"How appropriate, you fight like a dairy farmer!"

….

I still sorta wish I had….

**Beta'd by: Evil-Pixie-Dust**, because she is a lovely, wonderful person who deserves SO MUCH PRAISE for having to put up with me and my insanity in real life as well.

Alright, this is a thank you to everyone out there who's reading this right now! Especially everyone who's been with me from September when I started this! All of your reviews really helped me so much! It was special motivation to get this chapter done as soon as I could! (Or at least, as soon as I could while still being happy about it!)

So, _**THANK YOU ALL!**_

…and if you'd like to read something else by me, might I suggest _Mnemonic_?

*runs away, because that was a terribly obvious self-plug right there*


End file.
